A Wedding, A Prison, Ghosts, and a Werewolf
Review of Season 13
This month we had some great spooky episodes. The first one was about the mystery of the eighth day bride. I actually used to live near the area where Christina Mocon and her husband Jack Kettlewell went on their honeymoon. It is a beautiful area, and it is the perfect place to get off of the grid. But maybe that is why the couple were convinced to go there in the first place. It was off the grid, and very difficult to get help easily.
This tale is full of weirdness, and after going through all the research I believe that Christina did not end her own life. After all, if the alleged suicide letters she wrote were actually written by her - why would she choose to end her own life on her honeymoon? The biggest reason the letters claimed that she wanted to end her life was due to she was unsure of Jack’s love for her, but he married her. They were on their honeymoon. Her suicide notes do not make much sense because of that.
I also do not necessarily believe that Jack killed his new bride. He really had nothing to gain other than possibly Ronald’s love. What I find strange is that Jack was giving money to Ronald, who was broke. He was supporting his friend, so why would he also make him the beneficiaries to his and his new wife’s life insurance policies? Could it be that Jack was being manipulated by Ronald? It is very possible, and that could explain why Ronald left the country shortly after Christina’s death. But sadly due to all the main characters are no longer with us, it is highly likely this mystery will remain unsolved.
Our next episode was about the ghosts in Fremantle Prison, and just like many of the prisons out there - this place has a lot of ghost stories. But one of these tales stand out to me due to the lack of empathy shown, and that is the story of Moondyne Joe. Joe was originally arrested for stealing food, and was sentenced to six months in solitary confinement, and then an additional 10 years in a penal colony. This was only the start of him being given sentences that were way too severe for the crime. But what I found was particularly horrible was how Joe’s escapes embarrassed the local Governor, so he got his son to build a cage that was just plainly inhumane. Did they have to chain his neck to the cell’s tiny window using an iron bar? Of course they didn’t. They did this for one reason - the Governors pride was bruised. I really do hope that Joe doesn’t haunt Fremantle Prison, and he is free in his afterlife.
Our next episode was about werewolves…well…kind of about werewolves. We started the episode telling the story of the man who is thought to be one of the worst serial killers alive today - Mikhail Poplov aka: The Werewolf of Siberia. This guy used is position as a police officer to kill so many innocent women, and what made things worse was he stole weapons from the evidence locker at his work to do it. There are certain jobs that we all hold to a higher ethic than others. These include healthcare workers, members of the military, and police officers. These are the people who we trust with our very lives, but in the case of Mikhail - he used this to kill those he was supposed to protect.
Mikhail’s story was completely different from the other werewolf story we told that episode. The story of Peter Stump is not necessarily one of a serial killer, but one of a man of disability who was possibly a target because of that disability. Back in Peter’s time, people believed that if you had a disability - that you must have sinned against god. Peter’s only true crime was having lost a hand in an accident. That was enough to make people believe he was a werewolf, and this resulted in him being killed in what is said to be one of the worst executions in history. But the thing is that historians now believe that some of the werewolf accusations of the past were not that far off. They believe that some of those who were accused historically may have been serial killers. It is possible that Peter may not have been that different from Mikhail at all, but due to the fact that that people had no idea what a serial killer was - Peter was deemed a werewolf. Sadly, the truth has been lost to history.
Our last episode in April was one we decided to do after the success of our episode on Gettysburg. Out of all the alleged haunted battlegrounds, Gettysburg is one of the most well known. It isn’t the only one though, nor is it the most haunted one. There are many haunted battlefields out there, and it makes complete sense why a battlefield would be haunted. Many who die on a battlefield are filled with fear and confusion. This makes the perfect situation for a ghost or two.
My favourite haunted battlefield that we spoke about in our episode about haunted battlefields is Lundy’s Lane. The battle of Lundy’s Lane is a famous one, but in current day many don’t know about it. Lundy’s Lane is not like other historical battlefields that have been made into memorials or parks. This one is a busy city street filled with many types of businesses with an outlet mall on one side. Imagine going to an outlet mall to try to score some deals, and you run into a ghost of an 1800s soldier in the parking lot. At Lundy’s Lane - that is a definite possibility.
It’s hard to believe that we are almost done with Season 13. When I decided to start our podcast; the plan was to do four episodes. Yes…just four. The reason was that I had an idea in my head, and just needed a way to get it out. I was sure that no one was going to listen, so why do more than four? Well…that four turned into almost 250 regular episodes and about 300 more episodes for our fan club members, and we are not stopping now. In our next season review blog posts we will talk about our May 2024 episodes which includes our last episode of Season 13 - The Death of Toxic Gloria Ramirez. We then will jump right into Season 14 with our first four episodes: The European Werewolf Trails, Bobby Mackey’s Music World, The Ken and Barbie Killers, and From Writing Crime to Solving a Murder: The Story of Lois Duncan.
In addition to this; we here at Horrifying History have a request. If you have a paranormal based topic that you would like us to discuss or if you are interested in guest writing a blog post for us - send us an email at horrifyinghistory@outlook.com. We want to hear from you. Also, if you missed any of the spooky episodes we spoke about today - you can listen to them on any podcast provider. You can also find links to our episodes on our webpage https://horrifying-history-shop.fourthwall.com. And while there be sure to check out all of our spooky merch. If you become a fan club member; you will receive a permanent discount in our store for the entire time that you are a fan club member. Links to our fan club is also on that webpage.
Talk to you all soon…and until next time!