By 1875, the Queen of Thieves was wealthy, fashionable, and nearly untouchable. But New York was changing. Marm Mandelbaum became the target of a relentless district attorney and the famed Pinkerton Detective Agency. Despite serious blows to her criminal empire, Marm still managed to exit the game on her own terms. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Imagine living with a secret so big, if anyone were to find out, it would change everything. From love affairs and fake identities to heists and murder ? do you think you could take a secret like that to the grave? Discover the most explosive things people have admitted to just moments before the end in the new Spotify Original from Parcast, Deathbed Confessions. Listen to an exclusive clip from the first episode right here, then search and follow ?Deathbed Confessions? to hear more. New episodes air weekly! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One of New York?s shrewdest criminals in the late 19th century was a German Jewish immigrant with a knack for buying and reselling stolen goods. But Fredericka ?Marm? Mandelbaum wasn?t just any thief. Before long, she would reshape organized crime forever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There's still so much mystery surrounding the fate of Belle Gunness, and what exactly happened on her now-infamous murder farm. The truth may be just as terrifying as the rumors? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Belle Gunness never wanted much from her life: a fresh start in the USA, a nice husband, and maybe some children. But after a chance fire burned down her family home, an idea sparked in her ? one that would lead to countless murders at her chilling Indiana farm. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With her relationship with Bhagwan strained and her power slipping away, Sheela Birnstiel knew she had to do something drastic to make him happy and gain it all back. So in 1984, assisted by a group of loyal followers, Birnstiel masterminded the largest bioterrorist attack the U.S. had ever seen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

She first met the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh as a teenager and was instantly enamored. Sheela Birnstie vowed to spend her life helping him achieve his goals, including building a city for his loyal followers. And the best place to do that was in Oregon ? whether the locals liked it or not. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Following God?s orders led Joan of Arc into battle against the English, and into an audience with the king. But by her own admission, she had only a year to fulfill her holy mission ? and time was slipping through her fingers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hero. Martyr. Feminist. Witch. Who really was Joan of Arc? And could she really speak to God, or were her visions something else entirely? Today?s episode delves into the story of one of history?s most enduring icons, and explores what made her a legend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Anna Delvey wasn?t who she claimed to be. But despite mounting setbacks, she refused to temper her schemes. The fantasy life she built for herself was a house of cards doomed to fall, and her tower was starting to teeter? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A con artist storms New York?s social scene in the 2010s, cementing her place in high society as a German heiress worth millions. Anna Delvey masterfully swindled banks, hotels, airlines, even her own friends out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Her past was murky, but her persona was nearly unstoppable? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In November 1958, three young duck hunters came across a body near a remote lake in Ohio. As police closed in on Edythe Klumpp and Bill Bergen, the couple?s loyalty reached a breaking point. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Edythe Klumpp liked to have fun with the men in her life... even if that made her the "other woman." But in 1958, her love triangle turned deadly. Edythe would make the ultimate sacrifice for her lover. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lori Loughlin had it all: a career as a beloved TV icon, a happy marriage, and two loving daughters. But in the world of the ultra-rich and famous, success seemed to rest on the wins your child netted. And there was no bigger win than getting into a top college. So Lori left nothing to chance? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A particular caper in 1965 brought Doris uncomfortably close to law enforcement and the media. With her face now easily recognizable in the U.S., she turned her attention to Europe, eager to prove just how good she really was. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Born in 1930, Doris Payne realized early on that she had a taste for the finer things in life. She also realized she had a knack for putting people at ease ? and it was a skill she could use to get exactly what she wanted. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After abducting Elizabeth Smart in 2002, Barzee and Mitchell ? known to each other as Hephzibah and Immanuel ? fashioned her into a sister-wife, systematically abusing her into submission. It would be nine months before Elizabeth was rescued by police in Utah. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All Wanda Barzee wanted in life was for someone to take care of her, and in return she promised complete devotion. So when her paramour, self-styled prophet Brian David Mitchell, demanded she help him find a child bride, Wanda aided and abetted the kidnapping of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

She's perhaps the most famous femme fatale of the 20th century. And yet, Mata Hari's supposed crimes are shrouded in mystery. Who was this woman who captivated all of Europe? How did she become embroiled in the espionage of WWI? And who masterminded her ultimate fate? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In espionage terms, honeytraps are the stuff of legend: a beautiful temptress so seductive that she can convince even the most cunning of men to reveal state secrets. But in the case of Shi Pei Pu and the affair known as M. Butterfly, seduction would turn to love, and a decades-long deception which would ultimately expose a very different kind of secret. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The beautiful Soviet seductress is a well-known figure of femme fatale lore. She's patriotic, irresistible, and deadly. But how much of that is true? Did the KGB really train women to seduce and kill men? Or were the "sparrows" just women desperate for a better life? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A cunning puppetmaster, Catherine de Medici is most vividly remembered as a one-time queen of France who dispatched beautiful women in her court to manipulate the men of France. Except? that?s not really the case. But hidden in the spectacular legends lie kernels of truth about Catherine and her Flying Squadron. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The term "femme fatale" conjures up noir vixens whose sole purpose is to bring the story's male hero to his knees. But sometimes, women behaving badly are just getting things done the only way society will allow. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the aftermath of her elaborate bank-robbery-gone-wrong, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong had to resort to every tactic up her sleeve to avoid going to jail. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Intelligent and unstable, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong always had a way with men. But they never seemed to live for long. Nobody connected her to their deaths ? until she roped an innocent hostage into an elaborate bank heist, and forced him to wear a collar bomb.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1936, Abe Sada was so in love ? and lust ? she committed a gruesome crime. The case scandalized all of Japan. When she was finally caught, Abe was resolved to meet her fate. But then she was thrown a twist nobody saw coming. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As a young woman in 1920s Tokyo, Abe Sada dreamed of becoming a geisha? but settled for sex work. She began a heated affair with a married man. When his wife threatened their happiness, Abe decided she wouldn?t let him go. Even if it meant losing him forever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The unceasing stream of deaths in Castle Cachtice did not go unnoticed, but priests and concerned parents alike were powerless to intervene. When the Countess set a new trap to lure more girls, she unwittingly began the end of her torturous reign.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Real-life vampire or expert sadist? Elizabeth Báthory was allegedly responsible for killing hundreds of young women in 16th century Hungary. Her story is steeped in the kind of hearsay and legend befitting a cruel, untouchable noblewoman. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Called one of the most dangerous anarchists in the country, Emma Goldman was deported back to Soviet Russia in 1919. Ostracized from her peers and the movement she helped progress, Goldman found new ways to advance anarchist causes until her death at 70.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At the turn of the 20th century, a Russian immigrant spent decades supporting the anarchist cause in America ? plotting an assassination, publishing a magazine, and lecturing on everything from freedom of speech to prison reform to birth control.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the aftermath of 17-year-old Missy Avila?s murder, a killer moved into the Avila family home, a witness stepped forward after three years, and Missy?s Law was passed in California.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A revenge plot turned deadly in 1985 after two teenage girls unleashed their jealous rage on their former friend, Missy Avila. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After luring their friend Payton Leutner into the woods in May 2014, Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser stabbed her 19 times ? all in the name of Slender Man, a horror character that had materialized on the Internet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A made-up bogeyman went viral in 2009, inspiring low-budget web series, video games and fanfiction. The Slender Man was pure invention, but he seemed all too real to two Wisconsin girls. And in 2014, they set out to prove their devotion to him.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we?re bringing you a special two-part episode from another Spotify Original from Parcast. If you enjoy these episodes, check out Medical Murders on Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts!  She became the most sought after nurse in eastern Massachusetts. But ?Jolly Jane? Toppan preyed on the sickly and poisoned unsuspecting patients. And when pressed for a sizable debt, she embarked on a killing spree that decimated a family.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we?re bringing you a special two-part episode from another Spotify Original from Parcast. If you enjoy these episodes, check out Medical Murders on Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts!  She became the most sought after nurse in eastern Massachusetts. But ?Jolly Jane? Toppan preyed on the sickly and poisoned unsuspecting patients. And when pressed for a sizable debt, she embarked on a killing spree that decimated a family. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After fighting obscenity charges for her stage plays, Mae West went to Hollywood and quickly earned a level of power unheard-of for women in movies. But between censors' efforts to sanitize her, and the revelation of a shocking secret from her past, Mae had to do everything she could to survive. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When one of the most famous entertainers in America couldn?t find another good role, she wrote one for herself. The result was a play titled ?Sex,? and it became a Broadway smash in 1926 ? but moral reformers couldn?t handle its heat, and took drastic action. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Facing an ultimatum from her husband, 24-year-old Kristin drugged him with a lethal mix of prescription drugs, then staged his death to look like a suicide. Her story quickly unraveled, but to this day she claims innocence.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a childhood spent striving for perfection in the early '90s, a devastating ballet injury turned Kristin Rossum to drugs. She married the man who helped her get clean, but after a series of marital rifts, she used her knowledge as a toxicologist to plan the perfect murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In February 1887, a man opened a package to find a bloody torso, and police set to work following a trail of clues that led right to Hannah Mary Tabbs ? but she knew exactly how to play her cards.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the late 19th century, Hannah Mary Tabbs used violence to control those around her, directing her cruelty toward family and acquaintances. When she began an affair with a younger man, she thought she'd found happiness. Until he lost interest, and she began to plot her revenge... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After an argument in a Days Inn Motel, Yolanda Saldívar shot her boss, beloved Tejana superstar Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, in the back. The murder shocked the world. When her trial began in October 1995, Yolanda stood in a Houston courthouse and swore: Not Guilty.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From the moment she saw Selena perform, loner and misfit Yolanda Saldívar was obsessed.  But it wasn't enough to just be a fan. Within months, she was Selena's personal assistant and one of her closest friends. And Yolanda was prepared to do everything she could to keep Selena close?even if it meant harming her... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the morning of Friday, June 13th, 1980, suburban housewife Candy Montgomery was confronted by the wife of her ex-lover. Betty Gore was desperate?and holding an axe. Candy had no choice but to fight for her life... or so she says today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pretty, perky, and careful to always mind her manners, Candy Montgomery was married with children before realizing she wanted more. She wanted passion. So she set her sights on a man she knew from church. But there was only one problem: his wife. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With twin sons, a sprawling mansion, and a blossoming career, Clara Harris had it all?or so she thought. But when her world came crashing down in 2002, her anger fueled a violent outburst? with deadly consequences.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After pursuing a career that launched her from Colombia to America, Clara Harris met the man who would turn her world upside down. The two married and built the perfect life together, but something wicked began brewing in 2002, when Clara discovered her husband was having an affair.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On June 2, 1972, 20-year old Cathy Kerkow drove to the airport with her boyfriend on a mission to hijack a plane. But several hours after takeoff, the ambitious trip took a turn that landed young Cathy halfway across the world?and onto the FBI's most-wanted list. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices