Historian and Writer
On June 7, 1909, Egan’s Rat William Kane shot Fred Mohrle in the
Evan “Strangler” Lewis, also called Evan Lewis “the Strangler”, was a professional wrestler from
On July 26, 1854, the bare knuckle champion John Morrissey met occasional bare knuckle
General William Tecumseh Sherman of Civil War fame had deep roots in St. Louis
On November 1, 1931, Weiss Brothers Artclass Pictures released The Phantom (1931), a low-budget thriller. The film opens with a death row inmates escape from the prison on the day of his execution. After he jumps from the prison wall to the top of the train, a plane with a rope ladder picks up the prisoner. While the
On Tuesday, July 4, 1916, former St. Louis Chief of Detectives William Desmond passed away after an illness of two years. Desmond was in Alexian Brothers Hospital from October 1915 until his death on Independence Day 1916. The 59-year-old Desmond left a 12-year-old son, William Desmond, Jr. Chief Desmond’s wife died several years before him. For
This post was formally a podcast broadcast in 2015. In this episode, I discuss what Evan “The Strangler” Lewis’ hold would be called today. Update – All three of my kids have milestone birthdays this year. Caitlin is 21, Kenneth will be 18 and Caleb will be 16. The old man is a proud papa of all
In Shanghai Chest (1948), Inspector Charlie Chan must solve three murders. At each murder scene, police find a dead man’s fingerprints. Charlie Chan must solve both the murders and the mystery of the fingerprints. Monogram Pictures released this enjoyable film on July 11, 1948. The film opens in Judge Armstrong’s house where a burglar is lurking
At the beginning of 1911, the wrestling public considered three men to be the greatest challenge to reigning World Champion Frank Gotch. Former champion George Hackenschmidt, Stanislaus Zbyszko and “The Terrible Turk” Yussif Mahmout wanted the chance to beat Gotch. Gotch, who was nobody’s fool, decided to take some of the starch out of his challengers
William Powell’s fifth turn as S.S. Van Dine’s detective Philo Vance may have been his best. The Kennel Murder Case (1933) finds Philo Vance trying to solve the murder of Archer Coe. Coe had many enemies but the greatest mystery for Vance is how Coe was murdered in a locked room. Vance attended a dog show
On October 31, 1912, George Wiggins attended his trial for the murder of St. Louis Police Officer Louis Schnarr in June 1912. Nonchalantly chewing gum, 21-year-old Wiggins appeared totally oblivious to the seriousness of the trial. Wiggins plead guilty to the murder with the hope of receiving 25 years in prison. However, Judge Withrow was considering the death
1909 was probably the worst year of Parker Lonzo Bator Zimmerman’s life. He lost both his ten month old daughter Ida May Zimmerman and his second wife Mellie Bollinger Zimmerman. Before Parker’s death in the Cape Giraurdeau Tornado of 1949, he would bury two more of his children. Both of them were adults. I can only imagine how
On December 13, 1920, Ed “Strangler” Lewis defeated Joe Stetcher for his World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. Professional wrestling was a staged exhibition by 1920. However, such was the strong feelings between the men that the match may have been a “shoot” or legitimate match in which Lewis took the belt. Whether the outcome of the match
John Camel Heenan was known to 19th Century bare knuckle prizefighting fans as “the Benicia Boy”. Despite an 0-1-1 record as a professional fighter, Heenan claimed the World Prizefighting Championship based on a draw with Tom Sayer in an 1860 English prize-fight. Heenan’s first professional fight had been with the reigning World Heavyweight Prizefighting Champion John