Female Criminals

Winona Ryder exuded confidence and glamour while starring in some of the 1990s most popular films. But on the inside, she was dealing with personal problems. And on a December day in 2001, she walked out of a Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills with over $5,000 worth of stolen merchandise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the 1920s, Sydney’s criminal underworld found a new weapon of choice: razors. Tabloids announced “razor mania” was sweeping the suburbs, and locals dubbed the inner-city “Razorhurst.” Kate Leigh and Tilly Devine, the reigning queens of vice, were never far from the action. And in the summer of 1929, their rivalry made the streets run red. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From a young age, Tilly Devine had stars in her eyes. Born at the turn of the 20th century, she wanted to live a glamorous life. In her teens, she turned to sex work to achieve it. But if she learned her trade in London, she dominated it in Sydney.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the 1920s and ‘30s, two crime bosses dominated Sydney’s criminal underworld. Kate Leigh and Tilly Devine were queens of vice, building their empires on alcohol, cocaine, and sex. They were also fierce rivals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2007, three years after Lisa Montgomery’s grisly crime, her trial began. What unfolded there, and in the decade following, put discussions of mental health, abuse, and the death penalty in the national spotlight. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a gruesome 2004 crime, Lisa Montgomery strangled 23-year-old Bobbie Jo Stinnett before cutting her unborn child out of her. Montgomery’s own past was itself a trove of horror and abuse.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As we look ahead to the new year, we want to take one last chance to say thank you for the year that was — and present our "Best of 2021"! Please enjoy this episode from our fan-favorite podcast, Solved Murders. In August 1969, actress Sharon Tate was living the Hollywood dream. Until it turned into the bloodiest kind of Hollywood nightmare.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On Christmas Eve nearly seventy years ago, Dorothy Martin and the Seekers stood outside in Chicago and sang carols. They were waiting for a spacecraft that would shepherd them away from Earth — and the impending apocalypse. In this Christmas Special from Cults, join us for a look into a doomsday cult awaiting deliverance. And if you like this episode, follow Cults — a Spotify Original from Parcast — for more chilling insights every week! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

By the end of 1979, Marie was facing a life behind bars. But before authorities could lock her up for good, she made a run for it. When she resurfaced, the escape artist had a new name, a new look… and a new con. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ever since childhood, Audrey Marie Hilley loved being in command. But when she started losing control over her family, she turned to a bottle of arsenic… and poured it down their throats. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kansas City, Missouri’s most infamous femme fatale was a woman dubbed “La Pistolera” by Mexican newspapers in the 1960s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Japan, a yoga teacher named Shoko Asahara claimed he had special DNA, developed the battery-powered “Perfect Salvation System,” and directed his cult, Aum Shinrikyo, to carry out chemical attacks in Tokyo. This is the final episode in the three-part series — if you enjoyed it, search and follow Cults to hear what really happens behind the closed doors of covert societies. New episodes Tuesdays. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hosts Vanessa Richardson and Lanie Hobbs explore the story of Geshe Michael Roach and Christie McNally — the so-called king and queen of Diamond Mountain who used tantric yoga to lure hundreds to their Arizona desert retreat. This episode is a collaboration between Cults and Crimes of Passion, two Spotify Originals from Parcast. Every week, Cults analyzes the minds and movements of notorious cult leaders, and Crimes of Passion follows love stories that turn into crime stories. Search and follow to catch new episodes! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How do quests for enlightenment get so sinister? In this three-part special from Cults, a Spotify Original from Parcast, we’re looking at three stories of yoga gurus who were loved — then loathed — for their practices. We start in Romania, charting the rise of Gregorian Bivolaru: an allegedly all-powerful mystic who remixed religions for an ever-expanding cache of followers across Europe. But the price of following him was more than devotion… If you like this episode, search and follow Cults to delve into the minds of more notorious cult leaders every Tuesday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After marrying the heir to the Gucci empire, Patrizia Reggiani was living the dream. Almost overnight, she became a jet-setting socialite, rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous. But when her husband threatens to take all the glitz and glam away from her, Patrizia snaps. This Lady Gucci won’t go down without a fight — and she’s willing to play dirty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the early 1990s, erstwhile biographer Lee Israel was having the time of her life forging letters from long-dead celebrities. But when that particular scheme got too risky, she switched gears, and started making real money moves... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When a sought-after biographer makes a costly misstep, she gets desperate enough to use her talents for more criminal exploits… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One night in 1834, a fire swept through the LaLaurie mansion in New Orleans, drawing a crowd of worried onlookers. Until then, Delphine LaLaurie had been a queen of Creole society, but what volunteers found inside her home as they rushed to help would change all that. This is the story of what really happened that night, and about the birth of a monstrous legend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Delphine LaLaurie is a name synonymous with history's most twisted villains. But though there are countless embellished and horrific stories about the evils she carried out in her New Orleans mansion, few know the story before the legend... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mary Batemen had been playing people for fools for years. The problem was, too many of her dissatisfied customers stuck around to complain about her trickery. Her solution? Murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices