In Part 2 of our Bitter Blood series, we continue the shocking true story made famous by North Carolina author Jerry Bledsoe in his bestselling book Bitter Blood.

What began as a volatile marriage spiraled into paranoia, obsession, and a custody battle that would end in one of the most devastating family murder-suicides in North Carolina history.

We re-released this series in memory of Jerry Bledsoe, who passed away in December 2025. His reporting preserved this case with depth, compassion, and journalistic integrity — and without his work, many details would have been lost to time.

🎙️ Episode Credits

Researched and Written by: Darlene Hildreth & Melody Gwyn

• Male Narration: Curtis Hildreth
• Original Music: Isaiah Hildreth

📚 Sources

• Jerry Bledsoe, Bitter Blood
• Contemporary newspaper archives via Newspapers.com
• Memorial records via Find a Grave
• Court records and historical reporting from North Carolina regional outlets

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Jerry Bledsoe, North Carolina’s #1 New York Times bestselling true crime author, passed away on December 31, 2025, in Asheboro, NC. In honor of his life and legacy, we are re-releasing our two-part episode on Bitter Blood — the book that brought national attention to one of the most disturbing murder cases in North Carolina history.

Sources

We researched and built this episode using:

• Bledsoe, Jerry. Bitter Blood (book)
• Newspapers.com (archived newspaper reporting, obituaries, and contemporary coverage)
• FindAGrave.com (burial records and memorial details)

Credits

Hosted by: Darlene Hildreth & Melody Gwyn

Male Narration: Curtis Hildreth

Original Music: Isaiah Hildreth

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In this special Christmas episode of Hard Times and True Crimes, we examine one of the most disturbing crimes in American history: The kidnapping and murder of Marion Parker in Los Angeles in 1927.

In December 1927, Los Angeles was rocked by the kidnapping and murder of Marion Parker, a crime so horrific it dominated national headlines and left a permanent mark on American true crime history.

This episode explores the details of the crime, the historical context of 1920s Los Angeles, and why the Marion Parker murder continues to haunt true crime history nearly a century later - especially during a season associated with family, innocence, and hope.

Listener discretion is advised.

Sources:

Book: Taylor, T. (2017). I Want To Come Home Tonight: The Haunting Story of Marion Parker. Whitechapel Productions. Narrated on Audible by Charles Huddleston

Where you can purchase the book: https://www.amazon.com/Want-Come-Home-Tonight-Haunting/dp/1892523833

Music credit: Music used in this episode appears courtesy of the audiobook narrator of I Want to Come Home Tonight: The Haunting Story of Marion Parker by Troy Talor and is used with permission.

www.newspapers.com

Narrator of episode: Curtis Hildreth

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Ronald Gene Simmons lived quietly in Arkansas throughout the 1980s, keeping mostly to himself and his large family. Outwardly, he appeared to be living a simple life in the country—but behind closed doors was a world shaped by control, fear, and long-term abuse.

In December of 1987, during the week of Christmas, the darkness inside the Simmons home finally erupted. What unfolded became the largest family mass murder in American history. In this episode, we walk through the days leading up to the killings, the psychological unraveling that no one around him fully saw, and the series of violent attacks that shocked the entire state of Arkansas.

🎧 Credits

Hosts: Darlene Hildreth & Melody Gwyn

Male Narrator: Curtis Hildreth

Original Music: Isaiah Hildreth

Produced by: Hard Times and True Crimes Podcast

Find us on Facebook & Instagram: @HardTimesAndTrueCrimes

Sources for This Episode Include:

•Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Archives

•United Press International (UPI) Reports

•Associated Press Coverage, 1987–1990

•State of Arkansas v. Ronald Gene Simmons Court Documents

•Encyclopedia of Arkansas – “Ronald Gene Simmons”

•Time Magazine Archive: “Christmas Killings in Arkansas”

•Academic Analyses on Family Annihilators & Spree Killers

•Local Arkansas retrospective reports and interviews

• newspapers.com
• crime library.org
• findagrave.com

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In 2023, Erin Patterson sat down to lunch with her in-laws. A fatal family lunch in rural Australia. A handful of mushrooms. Three deaths. One survivor. And a woman at the center of a case that grabbed the world's attention almost overnight.

In this episode, we break down the 2023 Erin Patterson Australia mushroom poisoning case step-by-step - the timeline, the medical findings, the early interviews, the evidence released so far, and why investigators believe this incident is anything but ordinary.

From the quiet town of Leongatha to global headlines, this is the full story of the case that left a community stunned and the world asking the same question: what really happened during that deadly meal?

Intro and Outro Music: Isaiah Hildreth

Sources:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-02/police-charge-erin-patterson-mushroom-poisoning-deaths/103056694

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leongatha_mushroom_murders

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/the-lies-that-unravelled-how-erin-patterson-deceived-police-in-her-first-interview-20250707-p5md8g.htmlhttps://www.google.com/search?q=erin+patterson+trial+script&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS1055US1057&oq=erin+patterson+trial+script&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIICAEQABgWGB4yCAgCEAAYFhgeMgoIAxAAGIAEGKIEMgoIBBAAGIAEGKIEMgoIBRAAGIAEGKIE0gEIMzc4NmowajeoAgCwAgA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:47b85422,vid:lf5QfJ8Kd_I,st:0

https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/erin-patterson-trial-live-updates-more-witnesses-appear-before-jury-in-trial-of-mushroom-cook-20250507-p5lx8f.html

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-08/erin-patterson-mushroom-murder-trial-air-traffic-controller/105464254

https://www.9news.com.au/national/mushroom-deaths-victoria-heather-wilkinson-public-memorial-service/2408018a-4ee1-44a4-877f-1a2cd7ede6af

https://todayspaper.theaustralian.com.au/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=4361e090-b704-47f1-9816-4557e2589d84&share=true

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Episode Summary:

In our Halloween special, we step into the dark history of women’s mental health in early 20th-century America. Two women — Catherine Ward and Carrie Selvage — entered the asylum system from different directions. One commited a horrific crime. One guilty of nothing. Both lives ended tragically. We explore how fear, misunderstanding, and limited medical knowledge shaped their fates.

Themes Included:

• Asylums — hope vs. harm

• Postpartum mental health

• Trauma and “nervous breakdowns”

• Medication misuse & misdiagnosis

Hosted by:

• Darlene Hildreth

• Melody Gwyn

Male Narrator:

• Curtis Hildreth

🎵 Music Credit

Music: “UNCERTAINTY” by Arthur Vyncke

Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 (CC BY 3.0)

Music powered by BreakingCopyright

Artist Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@arthurvost

License Info: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

More music: https://breakingcopyright.com

🔎 Sources & Research

1.“Catherine Ward Murders Her Children.” Pennsylvania Oddities Blog, 1 May 2023. Available online: https://paoddities.blogspot.com/2023/05/catherine-ward-murders-her-children.html

•Contains details of Catherine Ward’s poisoning with mercury bichloride, hospitalisation, lunacy commission, and release June 18 1930.

2.“Why Did Catherine Ward Murder Her Children?” Pennsylvania Oddities Podcast, 15 May 2023. Available on Spotify/Apple.

•Podcast episode summarizing Ward’s case and timeline (March 1928 onward).

3.“Newspaper Clipping of the Day.” Strange Company Blog, 18 September 2013. Covers discovery of skeleton of Carrie T. Selvage in attic of former hospital building.

•Notes the skeleton found in April 1920, last seen March 11, 1900, at former Union States Hospital in Indianapolis.

4.“The Secret Attic | The Strange Death of Carrie Selvage.” M.P. Pellicer, Stranger Than Fiction Stories, 17 April 2024. Available online: https://www.storiesofthesupernatural.info/strangerthanfiction/the-secret-attic

•Background on Selvage’s disappearance, indications of attic hidden body, suggests possible murder or accidental freezing/death in asylum.

5.“Carrie T. Selvage (1856-1900) – Memorial.” Find A Grave. Available online: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/46013023/carrie_t-selvage

•Grave/memorial entry for Selvage, includes minimal details of disappearance and burial.

6.“Page 15 — Indianapolis News, April 27 1920.” Indianapolis News (Indianapolis, IN: Daily). Via Hoosier State Chronicles digital collection.

•Newspaper of the period referencing Miss Selvage’s skeleton found after many years.

📰 Suggested Additional Sources

•Indianapolis News (Indianapolis, IN), March 26 1900, p. 4 — “Miss Carrie Selvage” article about her disappearance from Union States Hospital.

📲 Connect With Us

Website: hardtimesandtruecrimes.com

Facebook: Hard Times & True Crimes Podcast

Listen on: Spotify • Apple Podcasts • Google Podcasts • Podpage

⸻

🗣️ Final Notes

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of self-harm, please reach out to professional support:

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (U.S.) — call or text 988

You are not alone.

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To purchase your merch - email us at hardtimesandtruecrimes@gmail.com with what you want, size, and a shipping address. We can accept Venmo or CashApp

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🎙️ In this episode, we uncover the chilling truth behind The Amityville Horror — separating fact from fiction in one of America’s most infamous stories. Long before the bestselling book and Hollywood movies, there was a real tragedy inside 112 Ocean Avenue: the DeFeo family murders.

Join us as we explore what really happened that night in Amityville, New York — the crime, the haunting that followed, and how a story of horror became a pop-culture phenomenon. Was the house truly cursed, or was it all a hoax?

Listen now to discover the real Amityville Horror story and decide for yourself.

Narrator: Curtis Hildreth

Intro and Outro Music: Isaiah Hildreth

Sources:

https://www.newspapers.com/image/715487755/?terms=defeo

https://allthatsinteresting.com/amityville-murders

https://www.newspapers.com/image/711844267/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/396305136/?match=1&terms=defeo

https://www.newspapers.com/image/715487755/?match=1&terms=defeo

https://www.newspapers.com/image/715467699/

https://www.newspapers.com/image/255433373/?match=1&terms=defeo

https://www.newspapers.com/image/137758435/?match=1&terms=defeo

https://www.newspapers.com/image/715473474/?match=1&terms=defeo

https://www.aetv.com/articles/amityville-murders-defeo

https://history.howstuffworks.com/history-vs-myth/amityville-horror-house.htm

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On New Year’s Eve, 1947, Winston-Salem was still glowing with Christmas decorations when a tragedy unfolded that shocked Forsyth County and made headlines across the state of North Carolina.

Everett and Margaret Phillips were a devoted couple who waited eight years for their only child, Tommy Lee. They poured their lives into him, indulging him with love, music, and opportunity. But when young love, secrets, and defiance collided, the results were catastrophic.

🎙️ Featuring:

•Male narration by Curtis Hildreth

•Storytelling for this episode by Darlene Hildreth

•Reactions for this episode by Melody Gwyn

•Original music by Isaiah Hildreth

📚 Sources:

•Newspaper archives (Winston-Salem Journal, Greensboro Daily News, and others via Newspapers.com)

•Forsyth County records

•FindAGrave.com

•Forsyth County Public Library (https://northcarolinaroom.wordpress.com/2015/08/16/bessie-ruth-tommy-lee-a-tragedy/)

•NC State Archives

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