Strange Country Ep. 74: Amy Archer Gilligan

Amy Archer Gilligan was a good Christian woman who ran a good Christian nursing home--if you substituted "good Christian" for "serial killer" that is. Strange Country co-hosts Beth and Kelly share this macabre story and show off their acting chops in a scene from Arsenic and Old Lace, a play and movie loosely based on Amy Archer Gilligan. Words to live by: Don't drink the lemonade.

Theme music: Resting Place by A Cast of Thousands.

Cite Your Sources:

“Amy Archer Gilligan: The Truth on Trial.” 26 Dec. 2018, Windsor, CT, www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Amy Archer-Gilligan&view=detail&mid=F6EFBA975EE0C94F8839F6EFBA975EE0C94F8839&FORM=VIRE

“Annie's Formative Years (1866-1886).” Vision Rehabilitation Services for Older People Who Are Visually Impaired - American Foundation for the Blind, www.afb.org/asm/asmgallery.asp?FrameID=97.

Barnard, Tara Siegel. “Costly Rehab for the Dying Is on the Rise at Nursing Homes, A Study Says.” The New York Times, 12 Oct. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/10/12/business/nursing-home-residents-rehabilitation-therapy.html.

Phelps, M. William. The Devil's Rooming House. Lyons Press, 2010.

“Windsor's ‘Murder Factory.’” ConnecticutHistoryorg, connecticuthistory.org/windsors-murder-factory/.

Strange Country Ep. 19: The Benders

Kansas was bleeding way before the Bender family showed up, but they sure added their share to the body count. In Strange Country Episode 19, co-hosts Beth and Kelly discuss this murderous family that ran and inn/slaughterhouse on the Osage Trail in the 1870s, and come up with a new idea for Martha Stewart.

Sources used....lots and lots...it makes me so tired:

“Bender Knife.” Kansas Historical Society, www.kshs.org/kansapedia/bender-knife/10106.

“Bleeding Kansas.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p2952.html.

“The Bloody Benders, America's First Serial Killers.” Mental Floss, 14 Nov. 2013, mentalfloss.com/article/53672/bloody-benders-americas-first-serial-killers.

“The Bloody Benders--Serial Killers of Kansas.” Legends of America, www.legendsofamerica.com/ks-benders/2/.

Duke, Thomas. The Family That Murders Together: The Bender Family of Kansas - HistoricalCrimeDetective.Com, www.historicalcrimedetective.com/the-family-that-murders-together/. Thomas Duke wrote the short feature in 1910.

Geary, Rick. The saga of the Bloody Benders: the infamous homicidal family of Labette County, Kansas. NBM Pub., 2007.

Hallowell, Wayne. “Bloody Bender Family 1871-1873.” The Bloody Benders story, www.leatherockhotel.com/BloodyBenders.htm.

History.com Staff. “Bleeding Kansas.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009, www.history.com/topics/bleeding-kansas.

“John Brown.” HistoryNet, www.historynet.com/john-brown.

Mann, Fred. “The Settlement of Kansas: Railroad Hype Drew Settlers.” The Wichita Eagle, 23 Jan. 2011, www.kansas.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/the-story-of-kansas/article1053043.html.

Nash, Jay Robert. The great pictorial history of world crime. vol. 2, Scarecrow Press, 2004, books.google.com/books?id=aTghCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA1045&lpg=PA1045&dq=frances mccann benders&source=bl&ots=BV-gzoSWja&sig=fIspceZHMbYSRbfowdhNB3kIBlA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwip0-KZg7fXAhXm3YMKHTGuAfkQ6AEIRTAI#v=onepage&q=frances%20mccann%20benders&f=false.

O'Brien, Liam. “Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Bloody Benders: truth or fiction? » MobyLives.” Melville House Books, www.mhpbooks.com/laura-ingalls-wilder-and-the-bloody-benders-truth-or-fiction/.

Rudolph, Vance. Kate Bender, The Kansas murderess: The horrible history of an arch killer. Pickle Partners Publishing , 2017, books.google.com/books?id=dgQqDwAAQBAJ&dq=paul ponziglione kate bender&source=gbs_navlinks_s.

Rutter, Michael. Bedside book of bad girls: outlaw women of the Old West. Farcountry Press, 2008, www.farcountrypress.com/emails/images_sept08/Farcountry_Press_Bedside_Bad_Girls_chpt1.pdf.

Turner, Erin H. Outlaw tales of the Old West: Fifty true stories of desperadoes, crooks, criminals and bandits. Rowman & Littlefield , 2016, books.google.com/books?id=C0PCCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA114&lpg=PA114&dq=wetzell kate bender&source=bl&ots=Xfzsdpj79E&sig=BwUWtqip75A4-AhORiB4bTYdoE4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwidv9yXibfXAhWp7IMKHWRYAh8Q6AEIRjAI#v=onepage&q=wetzell%20kate%20bender&f=false.