Recorded live in front of an audience, the boys tell the tale of the most dangerous neighborhood in Kansas City’s history - ‘Hell’s Half Acre’.

This hellacious neighborhood was in the West Bottoms - almost exactly where the Black Box and West Bottoms Whiskey sit today! The neighborhood had it all: filth, sex, violence, and more. Living in literal shacks, the residents of Hell’s Half Acre tried to carve out a life in Kansas City. Join us as we talk all about murders, pickpockets, highwaymen, and more!

20 years ago this summer, Jamie & Alex's favorite TV show went off the air. Deadwood was something never seen before on television - David Milch's brilliant show was something the boys bonded over quite early in their friendship. And you know how much they love the show, because they've been making Deadwood references throughout the 4 seasons of Going to Killing City.

So, this month's episode, Alex and Jamie talk all about why they love Deadwood, who their favorite characters were and why they're still talking about it today.

Join us at the BlackBox for our Hallowen Spooktacular on Thursday October 8! Free to paid substack subscribers, $5 for everyone else.

Our favorite story about the show: Timothy Olyphant shares a must hear Deadwood show

We're back to our favorite era of Kansas City, the late 1920's into the early 1930's. Yes, it's a wide-open town, but also a very dangerous episode. This month, we discuss how an innocent victim was murdered during a labor war. His death was the capstone of months of labor strife, with intimidation, threats and even bombings. His murder shocked Kansas City -but turns out, he might still be working at a downtown theater to this day.

Get all the details of this and every episode on our website: www.killingcitypod.com, and be sure to join us at our live Spooktacular event at the Black Box Theater in October!

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, cancer patients, AIDS patients, and many others were desperately seeking treatment for their respective diseases here in Kansas City. The protocol for those illnesses all called for prescription medicine. Those patients had faith those medications would help heal them, but what if they were wrong?

Season 4 kicks off with the horrific tale of a pharmacist named Robert Courtney, who diluted these lifesaving medicines all to pocket the difference and enrich himself. It is a truly jaw-dropping episode about greed, breaking a sacred trust, and killing countless unsuspecting victims.

This episode dropped last summer for our Substack subscribers. We decided that now that it's a year old, we would share it with everyone.

But, just as a reminder, subscribers to our Substack page get all sorts of fun goodies like this - exclusive episodes, video tours of our bars and much more!

This episode deals with the tragic life of Mary McElroy. As the daughter of the Pendergast Machine's City Manager, Henry McElroy, she seemed to have it all. But an audacious crime changed her life forever, with incredibly sad consequences.

Lastly, do not forget our walking tour on June 6 in downtown KC! Free to all subscribers, $40 for non-subscribers. We will sell out soon!

It’s the Season Finale, and we’re closing things out live from True Crime GenreCon at Woodneath Story Center with one of the strangest stories we’ve ever covered. This time, we head back to 1908, when a man calling himself “Adam God” brought a volatile mix of religious certainty, public spectacle, and gathering tension into Kansas City. What followed was bizarre even by this show’s standards. We won’t spoil the turn, but this one has all the ingredients: a self-proclaimed divine figure, a city losing patience, a confrontation that spins badly out of control, and a story that sounds invented until you realize it isn’t.

Special thanks to the fine folks at True Crime GenreCon and Mid-Continent Public Library for a terrific event, and to the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum for providing the great prizes for our Truman trivia contest.

And yes, Alex created the killer mocktail for the event: The Fourth & Main. It looked moody and promising. Audience response was... reserved. He did, however, leave with two “doggy bottles,” so not all was lost.

Killer Mocktail: The Fourth & Main

• Show notes, cocktails, and event details: killingcitypod.com
• Email us: killingcitypodATgmail.com
• Follow on Substack: https://substack.com/@kilingcitypod

This episode was recorded live before an audience at J. Rieger's headquarters. Ryan Maybee, the Co-founder and Managing Director of J. RIeger joined Jamie and Alex to discuss his killer cocktail and more.

In June 1928, Kansas City was thrilled to host the Republican Presidential Convention. Herbert Hoover was in town, but also were numerous bank robbers. Their audacious (and ill-advised) daylight bank robbery would lead to tragedy, with one individual murdered and several others injured.

Who were these men, and why were they allowed on the street? The answer might shock you.

This month's killer cocktail - The Pendergast, created by Ryan Maybee:

1 1/2 oz RIeger Kansas City Whiskey

3/4 oz Sweet Vermouth (Dolin)

1/2 oz Benedictine

3 Heavy dashes Angostura Bitters

Long lemon twist

Instructions: combine all the ingredients in a mixing glass and stir until cold and properly diluted. Strain into a cold rocks glass- Garnish with a long lemon twist

On a February afternoon in 1977, a routine lunch break on Kansas City’s Country Club Plaza ended without a return. A car reappeared where it was supposed to be. A woman did not. What followed was a quiet, unresolved disappearance that has lingered for more than four decades, marked by unanswered questions and gaps no investigation has been able to close.

Links & Sources

• Kansas City Star article
• Photo archive:
• Charley Project:
• Eastbound & Doomed:
• Join the Insider Club!

Killer Cocktail - The Mall Grab

Ingredients:

1 ounce rye

1 ounce Cognac

1 ounce Cynar Syrup

2 barspoons Bonal

Arak - to rinse the glass

Garnish: Orange twist (expressed and discarded)

Directions:

1. Rinse a rocks glass with arak then set aside

2. Combine remaining ingredients in a mixing glass with ice and stir until properly chilled and diluted

3. Strain into the prepared glass over fresh ice

4. Garnish with an orange twist expressed over the surface of drink, then discard

5. Cheers!

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Kansas City Crime Stoppers TIPS Hotline at 816-474-TIPS. Tips can be submitted anonymously.