While Solomon Boscov is remembered for founding the chain of department stores bearing his name, he also played a role in a chilling and mysterious Berks County murder. In August of 1941, Boscov opened an icebox door-- and discovered the tragic fate of little Billy Krewson. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/paoddities/support ..read more

In March of 1930, one Harrisburg woman suffered the sort of death typically reserved for horror movies or nightmares. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/paoddities/support ..read more

In 1909, Harry Keener confessed to murder. What makes this case truly remarkable is that it is one of the few instances in which a man who confessed to murder was set free, even though a witness testified that she had helped Harry dispose of the body-- in a rather gruesome way. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/paoddities/support ..read more

In September of 1930, the peaceful village of Spry was the scene of the bloodiest murder in York County history. It was here where an entire family was slaughtered by the blade of an insane farmer's axe. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/paoddities/support ..read more

Warning: This episode contains graphic depictions which some listeners may find disturbing. On February 14, 1891, Edward McMillan of Exeter Township committed one of the most revolting murders in the history of Luzerne County-- a crime which, according to one newspaper reporter, outshone Jack the Ripper in terms of sheer brutality. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/paoddities/support ..read more

On Friday, June 28, 1929, William Kennedy was building a new fence on his farm near York Springs when the circling of vultures led to shocking discovery on the banks of Bermudian Creek, about a hundred yards from the old Gettysburg-Harrisburg highway. It was the badly-decomposed body of a woman lying face-down in the mud. The victim, a 27-year-old deaf mute and mother of four from Harrisburg named Carrie Shellenberger Weiss, hadn't been seen or heard from since June 22. Though her husband was questioned, he was never arrested-- though evidence seems to point the finger directly at him ..read more

Lined with quaint shops and historic buildings, Annville is one of the most charming towns in the Lebanon Valley. However, in 1887, Annville became the scene of horror after 60-year-old William Showers committed two of the most sensational murders in the county's history on the outskirts of town. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/paoddities/support ..read more

Penn State Altoona, built on the site of a defunct amusement park, has a dark secret. At the center of the campus is a pond, the remnant of the warming dam which once fed Ivyside Park's massive swimming pool. There is one particularly sad tragedy associated with this pool-- a tragedy involving a distraught mother who drowned herself and her children one spring evening in 1930. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/paoddities/support ..read more

Over one thousand criminals have paid for their crimes in Pennsylvania with their lives. But one man, Lorenzo Savage, holds the distinction of being the only voodoo doctor executed by the Commonwealth. The story seems like a tale ripped from the pages of a dime-store novel: A lovelorn nurse is brutally slain, her body found outside an abandoned mansion. In her hand detectives find an arrangement of playing cards, which they soon learn is the black magic "hand of death". But the tragic tale of Elsie Barthel is not a work of fiction. It really happened in Pittsburgh in the fall of 1923. --- Sup ..read more

In Lebanon County there exists a place known to locals as Ghost Hollow. For more than a century, strange things have happened near this rural stretch between Shaefferstown and Newmanstown. In 1876, a teenage girl lost her life in a horrific carriage accident just outside the tiny village of Millbach. According to those who witnessed the entire incident, something "otherworldly" was to blame.  --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/paoddities/support ..read more