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[Re-release] Unsolved Mysteries
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This is a release of an episode originally published on June 6, 2023.
As much as we love coming up with the solution before the sleuth in fictional mysteries, there is something about unsolved mysteries that is fascinating. In today’s episode, Brook and Sarah discuss four well-known unsolved mysteries and their enduring appeal.
A quick note: two of the mysteries we discuss in this episode involve the deaths of real people, which can be more upsetting to hear about than fictional cases. We don’t get into detail, but understand if you choose to skip this one.
Discussed
he Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper (2019) Hallie Rubenhold
https://www.jack-the-ripper.org/
A Private Disgrace: Lizzie Borden by Daylight (2012) Victoria Lincoln
The Trial of Lizzie Borden (2019) Cara Robertson
Amelia Earhart Part I: The Lady Vanishes | Podcast | Overheard at National Geographic
Amelia Earhart Part II: The Lady’s Legacy | Podcast | Overheard at National Geographic
D.B. Cooper, Where are You? (2022)Netflix
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Transcript
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Transcript
Announcement of Break and Re-releases
00:00:00
Speaker
Hi, it's Sarah. Brooke and I are taking a short break from recording new episodes to catch up on our reading lists and plan for the next season of Clued in Mystery. While we're off, we are re-releasing a few of our favourite episodes. We hope you enjoy.
00:00:23
Speaker
Welcome
Introduction to Unsolved Mysteries Episode
00:00:24
Speaker
to Clued in Mystery. I'm Sarah. And I'm Brooke, and we both love mystery. Hi Brooke. Good morning Sarah, it's another great day to talk about mysteries. Absolutely, and today we're going to talk about some unsolved mysteries.
00:00:42
Speaker
Yes, some real life mysteries. Because when you're a mystery lover like us, it's not just fictional stories that catch your attention. Real life unsolved mysteries captivate us too. Today, Sarah and I will highlight some of the well-known examples of unsolved crimes and mysteries. What keeps these cases alive in our culture and what keeps armchair sleuths as well as professionals researching them?
00:01:09
Speaker
We'll discuss this and more, but first, please be aware that two of these cases involve discussion of extreme violence and real life cases can be more difficult to hear about than fictional renditions. We will not go into great detail, but we want to give you the opportunity to skip this episode if that's best for you. So Sarah,
Jack the Ripper: Identity and Speculation
00:01:29
Speaker
why don't you start us off with one of these real unsolved cases that continue to fascinate society in general and mystery lovers in particular.
00:01:40
Speaker
I will. Thank you, Brooke. Before I begin, I just want to preface this by saying that I am by no means an expert on any of the cases that we are going to discuss. And there are many sources of information maintained by people who have devoted hundreds or even thousands of hours to these subjects. So this summary is going to be very high level, but there are lots of places where people can get some more information if they're looking for it.
00:02:10
Speaker
So I'll start us off by talking about what is probably one of the most well-known violent crimes in recent history, and that is the case of Jack the Ripper. Between the 31st of August and the 9th of November in 1888, five women were brutally murdered in the Whitechapel neighborhood of London. And those deaths are attributed to arguably one of the most famous serial killers ever, Jack the Ripper.
00:02:39
Speaker
Were they victims of a single murderer or were there several killers? Were they the only victims or were they part of a larger string that started earlier in 1888 and ended in 1891? Was the killer medically trained or a butcher?
00:02:54
Speaker
Was he a well-heeled aristocrat or a member of the royal family? These questions will never be answered, but they have sparked the interest of amateur sleuths and historians for over 130 years. At the time, accounts of the murders were sensationalized in newspapers that were published in London
00:03:11
Speaker
and their coverage of the murders garnered the case international attention, thanks in part to hundreds of letters received by the police and the press, many of which were supposedly from the killer. Now there are countless books, podcasts, films, and websites devoted to the subject.
00:03:27
Speaker
So I won't go into any more of the details, but I will specifically call attention to a book that I recently read, and that is The Five, The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hayley Rubenhold. This book is incredibly well researched, providing insight not only into the lives of these women, who traditionally are referred to as prostitutes, but many of whom were not.
00:03:52
Speaker
Instead, they were poor, often they were alcoholic, and subject to the standards and expectations of the time that they lived in. No other book has given me greater appreciation for the daily struggles of the late 19th century and made me thankful that I am not living in the same conditions as them.
00:04:10
Speaker
Thanks, Sarah. That is definitely, you're right, probably the most well-known unsolved case. Everyone knows that name and at least has some understanding of what those crimes were. Um, and I, I think that, uh, something you said, like you listed off these questions and there's, it made me think about how there's so many variables in this case, you know, if he was a doctor, then that makes all these other things happen. If he was just a, um,
00:04:39
Speaker
just a crazy person that didn't have any skills, then that trickles down and makes all these other things a possibility. And it's just such a puzzle that will never be solved, that we just cannot solve, right?
00:04:54
Speaker
Well, and I think with this case, you know, it was 130 years ago. So evidence wasn't maintained in the way that it might be maintained now. I think with the blitz in London, there was a lot of documentation that got destroyed. And so there are just so many unanswerable questions related to this.
00:05:23
Speaker
Yeah. And to those of us who enjoy trying to solve a case, even if it's just that armchair sleuth thing, it becomes this challenge. It's almost like you can't let it go. But as you say, there are things that we will never know. So it will likely never be solved. So Brooke, do you have a case that you want to share?
00:05:46
Speaker
Yes, and I'm glad you said what you did because by no means are we experts on these.
Lizzie Borden: Family Conflicts and Theories
00:05:52
Speaker
I appreciated that. But I will say that I got a little obsessed with Lizzie Borden when I was a young teenager to the point that my mom got a little concerned about me because I kept renewing this book from the library.
00:06:07
Speaker
But I'll spare you the childhood rhyme, but many of you know that Lizzie Borden was tried and acquitted for the murder of her father and stepmother. No one else was ever formally accused, leaving the case unsolved for over 130 years.
00:06:24
Speaker
Lizzie Andrew Borden was born in 1860 in Fall River, Massachusetts to Andrew and Sarah Borden. They had one other daughter, Emma, who was nine years older than Lizzie. Their mother died when Lizzie was just three, and their father remarried shortly after to a woman named Abby Gray.
00:06:42
Speaker
Lizzie's father was a great businessman, although he started out rather poor. He worked over his life to become extremely wealthy. And at the time of his death, his estate is estimated to be worth $9.6 million in today's US dollars.
00:06:59
Speaker
As young adults, Lizzie and Emma still lived at home with their parents and were very involved in the community. They taught Sunday school, they served on various boards and projects. So it would seem that this rich, influential, and involved family had it all, but there was trouble brewing. First of all, Lizzie didn't get along well with her stepmother.
00:07:20
Speaker
She suspected that Abby only married her father for his money and would only ever call her Mrs. Borden. Lizzie and Emma also had conflicts with their father. This was in part because he was such a miser, so although he was extremely wealthy, he was also extremely frugal, to the point of refusing to install indoor plumbing into their home, even though by this time that was a common practice for affluent families.
00:07:49
Speaker
The girls also disagreed with his financial decisions. He had recently provided his sister-in-law, so his new wife's sister, with a house. And this made his daughters extremely jealous. They demanded that he give them a house too that they could use as a rental property. So he agreed and they purchased a house from him for $1 to make it a legal transaction.
00:08:15
Speaker
But a few weeks before the murders, they sold the property back to their father for $5,000. So there was clearly some sort of dispute still happening there. To add insult to injury, Lizzie's father had recently killed her pet pigeons. He said they were a nuisance, but she loved them. And he killed them with a hatchet.
00:08:38
Speaker
And also the week before the murders, the entire family fell ill. It's unclear whether this was an intentional poisoning or simply food poisoning because this was, you know, pre-refrigeration.
00:08:54
Speaker
So this brings us to the day of the murders, August 4th, 1892. Andrew left for his normal morning walk and Abby was doing upstairs chores. Abby was the first to be killed. She was struck multiple times with a hatchet. When Andrew returned home, his key failed to open the door so he knocked and the families maid went to answer and found that the door had been jammed.
00:09:19
Speaker
She reports hearing Lizzie coming down the stairs at this point and she was apparently laughing. Lizzie later denied the whole thing. She said she was never upstairs and she thought that her stepmother was actually out of the house at that point. But the maid helped Mr. Borden settle in for his nap anyway.
00:09:39
Speaker
and she went back to work cleaning the windows. Soon she reports that Lizzie called her saying, Maggie come quick, father's dead. Somebody came in and killed him. They found Andrew on the couch downstairs. He had also been struck multiple times with a hatchet.
00:09:58
Speaker
Lizzie was arrested a week later, and her trial began a year later. The hatchet was discovered by the Fall River police, but it had been cleaned very well of all evidence.
00:10:11
Speaker
And another downfall for the prosecution was that even though fingerprinting was in its infancy, the Fall River police didn't properly collect any fingerprints. And they also let the crime scene become rather a show place. And so people were in and out of the house, people just from the community and on the day of the murders. So everything got contaminated.
00:10:36
Speaker
Although no bloodstained clothing was found as evidence, it was reported that Lizzie tore apart and burned a blue dress in the kitchen stove a few days following the murder, claiming that she had paint on it. But based on the lack of evidence, Lizzie Borden was acquitted.
00:10:54
Speaker
After the trial, Lizzie and her sister were wealthy. They inherited all that money. They had a giant house that they called Maplecroft, indoor plumbing and all. They had maids and housekeepers and a coachman. Even though she was acquitted, she was definitely ostracized by Fall River Society.
00:11:15
Speaker
There are many theories on what really happened. Stories range from the maid committing the murders to Lizzie doing that but in a fugue state. And then there's an uncle who had been staying in the home who was also having business dealings with
00:11:32
Speaker
Mr. Borden and his guilt is in question. Numerous blogs, TV shows, movies, and many, many books have recounted the evidence and Lizzie's trial or they fictionalized the story. But 232nd Streetfall River is now a bed and breakfast where mystery buffs can tour the rooms and even sleep in the infamous bedrooms. No thanks.
00:11:57
Speaker
I would recommend a couple of books that would be great to learn more about this trial. A Private Disgrace, Lizzie Borden by Daylight. That one is by Victoria Lincoln. Or The Trial of Lizzie Borden by Kara Robertson.
00:12:14
Speaker
Thanks, Brooke. I have to say I wasn't familiar with very much about the story. Certainly I'd heard the name, Lizzie Borden, and that her family had been killed. I actually thought she would sound guilty, so thanks for clearing that up for me. Yeah.
00:12:35
Speaker
I think it's, you know, we've talked before, I think, about sort of public fascination with crime and how police methods have obviously evolved, but historically, members of the community kind of having access to crime scenes
00:12:54
Speaker
and disturbing the evidence and so making it really difficult for any convictions to happen. So I'm not surprised given how sensational I'm sure the story was for the community that people wanted to go in and take a look.
00:13:13
Speaker
Yeah, it's interesting when you realize that they didn't understand how fragile everything was. And yeah, this guy was super influential in the community, very well known. And it kind of became this sideshow where everyone was in and out that day. And when you're reading the facts of it and just cringing going, oh my gosh, there's no way to build a case now.
00:13:36
Speaker
But it's very fascinating and there are so many layers to it, so many possibilities. It's definitely worth checking out for those of us who love a good mystery challenge. So Brooke, I have a non-violent
00:13:53
Speaker
mystery that remains unsolved that I thought I would share.
Amelia Earhart: Disappearance and Theories
00:13:58
Speaker
And this is the mystery of Amelia Earhart who was a pilot and she and her navigator Fred Noonan went missing on one of the last legs of what was supposed to be the first time a female pilot circumnavigated the globe.
00:14:14
Speaker
So she was very accomplished as a pilot and very famous for her accomplishments. But despite extensive searching, there have been no confirmed sightings of Earhart, her navigator, or the plane since July 2, 1937.
00:14:31
Speaker
Her disappearance sparked several theories. Did her plane crash and sink? Did she land on a different island and die as a castaway? Was she actually a government spy and crashed on the Marshall Islands only to be captured by the Japanese? Or was the crash fictional and used as a ruse to facilitate government spying?
00:14:53
Speaker
Or was the flight successful and she was just so tired of her fame that she abandoned the public eye to become a housewife. The truth will never be known, but searchers as the passionate community of people who seek the answers will continue in their quest.
00:15:10
Speaker
In learning a little bit more about her, I discovered that in addition to her flying firsts, she worked as a social worker. She was a fierce advocate for women's rights. And because of her celebrity status, her name was attached to different goods, much like we see celebrity endorsements continue to happen now. One of the things that her name was attached to was a line of luggage, which is very fitting for someone who is a pilot.
00:15:38
Speaker
She fought quite hard to be recognised under her birth name, so as Amelia Earhart, rather than her married name. And a lot of what she did paved the way for women. And so she's quite apart from being this wonderful pilot, she was quite a pioneer in a lot of different ways.
00:16:01
Speaker
So I didn't actually read any books related to Amelia Earhart to prepare for this, but I did listen to some podcast episodes and read some, as with any of these cases, there are extensive resources that are available for people.
00:16:16
Speaker
But I really enjoyed a two-part series that was put together by the National Geographic, and they have a podcast that's called Overheard. I listened to both of those episodes on YouTube, and they were great, so I'll include links to those in the show notes. Thanks, Sarah. Yeah.
00:16:37
Speaker
one of my heroes, I think. I just think that she's such a fascinating woman and then it's so tragic the way that it ended because she was on this flight that was going to even make her more of a celebrity, I guess, like this huge accomplishment. And it's just one of those
00:16:58
Speaker
one of those situations that just is so heart wrenching, I think. And because she was so famous already, it really has kept this alive because we know that especially in that day and age, there were planes going down. People were dying in plane crashes or lost at sea and things. But because she was such a celebrity, that's kept this alive for us and kept us wondering what happened all these years.
00:17:22
Speaker
Well, and I do wonder if because her plane crashed, that is what has kept her name as something that people know. Because as you say, there were, you know, there were lots of pilots, lots of people who were attempting these firsts because aviation was really just in its infancy.
00:17:42
Speaker
Um, and I can think of the Wright brothers, uh, who, you know, were the kind of the first, uh, to fly in a plane, um, and Amelia Earhart. And they're probably the only names that I know from aviation history. And I'm, I'm, I wonder if part of the reason that she is, her name is so well known is because, uh, she, her plane crashed.
00:18:09
Speaker
Yeah, that is actually a great point, Sarah, isn't it? When some tragedy happens or it doesn't necessarily have to be tragic, but an ending or an event that then solidifies it because we talk all the time about
00:18:26
Speaker
maybe mystery authors that have been lost to history for whatever reason. But these kind of events then just kind of cement them in our cultural memory. And I would say my other, I agree with you, the Wright brothers, Amelia Earhart, and then Charles Lindbergh, but also because he had a tragic thing happen to his family. It's unfortunate that that is the, that's what makes us remember these people.
00:18:56
Speaker
Exactly. Well, I'm going to share, lastly, another nonviolent crime, but just as fascinating. D.B. Cooper
D.B. Cooper: Hijacking and Mystery
00:19:07
Speaker
is the name given by the media to an unidentified man who hijacked a Northwest Orient Airlines flight on November 24, 1971.
00:19:18
Speaker
This white male in his mid-40s with dark brown hair, wearing a suit and tie, and carrying a briefcase as well as a brown paper bag, boarded the plane bound from Portland, Oregon to Seattle, Washington. During the short flight, he informed an attendant that he was armed with a bomb. He demanded $200,000 in ransom as well as four parachutes when they landed in Seattle.
00:19:46
Speaker
He was given his demands and he released the other passengers in Seattle. He then instructed the crew to refuel the aircraft and take flight to Mexico City. About 30 minutes after takeoff, the crew realized that the hijacker had opened the airplane's aft door. He deployed the staircase and parachuted into the night over southwestern Washington. He was never found. His identity has never been determined.
00:20:14
Speaker
Interestingly, the hijacker identified himself as Dan Cooper on documents, but a misinterpretation of his handwriting on a form resulted in him always being known as DB. In 1980, a small amount of the ransom money was found on the banks of the Columbia River, and this renewed public interest in the case.
00:20:37
Speaker
The FBI kept the investigation open for 45 years, building an extensive case file. Perhaps his only mistake in this perfect crime, FBI agents found his black clip-on necktie where he had been seated. The tie had been sold exclusively at JCPenney department stores, but the lead did not reveal the man's identity.
00:21:01
Speaker
By late 2007, the FBI was able to build a partial DNA profile from the necktie, but no matches have been discovered.
00:21:10
Speaker
In 2009, a group of citizen sleuths calling themselves the Cooper Research Team used GPS, satellite imagery, and other modern technologies to investigate. The group included scientists from various fields. Unfortunately, when searching the area where the ransom money was discovered and the area that they alleged that Cooper landed, they did not locate any new evidence.
00:21:37
Speaker
The FBI believed that the man could not have survived the jump, but others disagree. Theories abound about who D.B. Cooper really was. Between 1971 and 2016, the FBI processed more than a thousand serious suspects, included assorted publicity seekers, and deathbed confessors. Recent documentaries, books, and miniseries show that the intrigue this mystery man created still exists.
00:22:07
Speaker
This crime remains the only unsolved incident of air piracy in history. And I'm going to recommend a fairly new Netflix miniseries called DB Cooper. Where are you? It's really well done. And because it was released in 2022, you get all of the up to date research that's being done and some of the theories. So it's a great one to learn more about this really interesting case.
00:22:34
Speaker
Oh, thank you, Brooke. Yeah. So this is of the cases that we've talked about today. This is the one that I probably knew the least about. I think I knew the name DB Cooper, but I'm not sure that I knew what, what was the mystery surrounding him. So yeah, I'll have to, to look at that Netflix series. Thanks for that recommendation.
00:22:52
Speaker
So
Cultural Impact of Unsolved Mysteries
00:22:53
Speaker
Brooke, these are just a few examples of unsolved mysteries. There's so many others. And there's some that are even older, right? Like the Princes of the Tower in London, or Roanoke, or even things that are like Bigfoot, or the Loch Ness Monster. These continue to fascinate people. What do you think fuels that ongoing interest?
00:23:22
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know if I can put my finger on it, but I am definitely in the group that can't get enough of them. But it definitely feels like either you are or you aren't. Like I know people in my life who could care less. They're like, why are you even watching that? Or why are you interested in that? I guess it probably comes down to me to that feeling of the puzzle.
00:23:49
Speaker
But I'm interested in the fact that I know that there's not a solution and yet I will still watch these documentaries and listen to these podcasts. I just find them fascinating. So when you're doing that, is there something about hearing about all of the different theories that interests you or do you like come up with your own theories?
00:24:12
Speaker
Um, I think it's a combination of both. Like I love hearing all the different theories, especially if a new theory comes about, for instance, like with new technology, then they're able to, Oh, well perhaps this, and they'll, somebody will pose a new theory. But I, I also find myself like going off on my own. What about you? Do you, do you make your own theories when you listen or combine two theories? Yeah, you know,
00:24:41
Speaker
Well, when you were describing the Lizzie Borden case, I was like, oh, it was made. Awesome. I think I probably fall into the camp of people who like they interest me, but I don't I can't think of one that I researched extensively. Yeah, like Roanoke, I think is a fascinating story, but I haven't read extensively about it.
00:25:07
Speaker
I don't know, I think it's really interesting how even if you're not super interested in coming to an answer, a lot of these mysteries are just woven into our cultural fabric, right? People know about them even if they haven't spent a lot of time researching them.
00:25:29
Speaker
I think that the way that they endure is so fascinating and the fact that even younger generations, if you were to mention Jack the Ripper to a teenager, they're not going to know all the details, but they're going to automatically know, oh, we're talking serial killer Victorian era.
00:25:52
Speaker
It's super interesting how they've stayed alive and become a part of our culture, worldwide culture, I would say. So what do you think would happen if tomorrow some piece of evidence emerged and one of these mysteries was solved? I think that you would have, because this plays on the fact that there's a part of us that doesn't really want the answer. We like the game as much as we
00:26:19
Speaker
are searching for an answer. So I think you'd have a big rise up of the counterpoints, people disputing it for whatever reason. Yeah, I think that there's going to be a part of things that don't really want it to be solved, don't want it to be over.
00:26:39
Speaker
I think I agree. I think there's always going to be people who just won't accept that that's the solution and will continue to dispute that the mystery has been solved.
00:26:55
Speaker
Well, Sarah, this has been so much fun. And as you say, there are many more of these real life unsolved mysteries. I'm with you.
Engaging Listeners with Their Favorite Mysteries
00:27:04
Speaker
Roanoke has always fascinated me. So, you know, maybe there is another real life mystery episode coming in the future. Well, I'd love to hear what our listeners, if they've got any real life mysteries that are unsolved that that they're really interested in.
00:27:22
Speaker
Oh yes, let's get some suggestions. I like that. So send us your suggestions of the real life mysteries that have always fascinated you. But for today, thanks for joining us on Clued in Mystery. I'm Brooke. And I'm Sarah. And we both love mystery.
00:27:43
Speaker
Clued In Mystery is produced by Brooke Peterson and Sarah M. Stephen. Music is by Shane Ivers at Silvermansound.com. Visit us online at CluedInMystery.com or social media at Clued In Mystery. If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or telling your friends.