The President who may have been killed by his own doctors.

In this episode of Dee-Brief, Dee explores one of the most extraordinary assassinations in American history, and one of history's greatest medical "what ifs."

When President James A. Garfield was shot by disappointed office-seeker Charles Guiteau in July 1881, many believed his fate was sealed.But modern medical experts tell a very different story.

The bullet itself may not have been fatal.Instead, Garfield endured eighty days of repeated examinations by doctors who repeatedly inserted unwashed fingers and unsterilised instruments into his wounds, unknowingly introducing life-threatening infection.

Today, many historians believe it was sepsis - not the gunshot - that ultimately killed the twentieth President of the United States.

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Sources

• Ackerman, Kenneth D. Dark Horse: The Surprise Election and Political Murder of President James A. Garfield

• Library of Congress

• U.S. Senate Historical Office

• White House Historical Association

• National Park Service – James A. Garfield National Historic Site

• Smithsonian Magazine

A teenage girl vanished after a night at the fair. Nearly 50 years later, police charged a suspect, but the trial never happened.

In this episode of Dee-Brief, Dee explores one of Birmingham's most heartbreaking unsolved murders.

On the evening of 18 August 1961, fifteen-year-old Jacqueline Thomas went to a travelling funfair in Ward End with friends. It should have been an ordinary summer night. Instead, it was the last time she was ever seen alive.

A week later, Jacqueline's body was discovered on nearby allotment land. Despite a major police investigation, appeals for witnesses, and multiple suspects being questioned, nobody was charged and the case gradually grew cold.

Then, almost half a century later, everything changed.

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If you have any information relating to the murder of Jacqueline Thomas, however small it may seem, West Midlands Police continue to regard the case as unsolved. After more than sixty years, investigators still hope someone may hold the missing piece of the puzzle.

Sources

• Burney, Ian & Pemberton, Neil. Murder and the Making of English CSI

• West Midlands Police – Unsolved Murders

• Birmingham Mail archives

• BBC News archives

• The Independent archives

• The Guardian archives

The case that may - or may not - connect to the Black Dahlia

In this episode of Dee-Brief, Dee heads to 1940s Chicago to examine one of America's most infamous unsolved - or perhaps wrongly solved - murder cases: The Chicago Lipstick Murders.

Between 1945 and 1946, three shocking murders terrified the city. A cryptic message allegedly scrawled in lipstick gave rise to the ridiculously nickname "The Lipstick Killer," while the brutal murder of six-year-old Suzanne Degnan sparked one of the largest criminal investigations in American history.

But was the right man ever convicted?

Dee explores the controversial case of William Heirens, whose confession has been debated for decades, examining claims of coercive interrogation, disputed forensic evidence, and one of the earliest alleged false confessions in American criminal history.

The episode also revisits the extraordinary claims made by retired LAPD detective Steve Hodel, who believes his father, Dr George Hodel, was responsible not only for the murder of Elizabeth Short - the Black Dahlia - but also for the Chicago Lipstick Murders.

Was the case really solved?Or has the true killer remained hidden for nearly eighty years?

Listen now and decide for yourself.

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to listen to our two-part interview with Steve Hodel on the Black Dahlia, where we explore the evidence behind his extraordinary theory that his father may have been one of America's most prolific unidentified serial killers.

🎙 Follow Switchblade Sisters Social Club wherever you get your podcasts, and don't forget to leave us a rating and review. It really helps independent podcasts reach more listeners.

Sources

• Hodel, Steve. Black Dahlia Avenger

• Hodel, Steve. Most Evil

• Newton, Michael. The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers

• Chicago Tribune

• Chicago Sun-Times

• Illinois Innocence Project materials discussing the Heirens case