Lizzie Halliday
Morbid
01/26/26
•75m
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Lizzie Halliday was known in the late nineteenth century as “the worst woman on earth” and ended up being the first woman EVER to be sentenced to die in the electric chair.
References
Brooklyn Citizen. 1893. "Mrs. Halliday guilty." Brooklyn Citizen, September 10: 4.
Buffalo Conmmercial. 1894. "Murderess Lizzie Hallidfay sentenced this morning." Buffalo Commercial, June 22: 1.
Buffalo Courier. 1891. "An interesting Newburgh pair." Buffalo Couirier, June 24: 1.
—. 1893. "Her first connected story anent the recent tragedy." Buffalo Courier, October 21: 2.
Buffalo Evening News. 1895. "Crazy murderess, assisted by another maniac, tries to kill an attendant at Matteawan." Buffalo Evening News, September 2: 6.
—. 1894. "Lizzie Halliday sentenced to die by electricty." Buffalo Evening News, June 22: 7.
Buffalo Sunday Morning News. 1894. "Lizzie's crazy antics." Buffalo Sunday Morning News, June 24: 1.
Evening World . 1894. "A weird murderess." Evening World, June 20: 1.
Evening World. 1894. "Lizzie Halliday's trial." Evening World, June 18: 1.
Levine, David. 2020. Lizzie Brown Halliday: The Worst Woman On Earth. August 25. Accessed January 29, 2024. https://hvmag.com/life-style/lizzie-brown-halliday-serial-killer/.
New York Times. 1918. "Lizzie Halliday dead." New York Times, Junbe 29: 20.
—. 1893. "Lizzie Halliday makes statement." New York Times, October 21: 9.
—. 1894. "Lizzie Halliday soon to be tried." New York Times, June 10: 8.
—. 1906. "Mrs. Halliday, insane, stabs nurse 200 times." New York Times, September 28: 5.
Owen, Kevin. 2019. illing Time in the Catskills: The twisted tale of the Catskill Ripper Elizabeth "Lizzie" McNally Halliday. Unknown: Independent.
Sun and Erie County Independent. 1893. "A triple tragedy; awful crimes charged against Mrs. Halliday." Sun and Erie Times, September 15: 2.
The World. 1893. "Lizzie Halliday in Philadelphia." The World, November 8: 2.
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Previous Episode
The Heaven’s Gate Tragedy
January 22
•67m
On the afternoon of March 26, 1997, the San Diego County Sherrif’s Department received an anonymous call through 911 reporting a mass suicide at an address in Rancho Santa Fe, California. A single sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to the address and knocked on the front door, but got no response. Finding a side door to the home unlocked, the deputy entered the house and was horrified to discover nearly forty bodies of adults, all of whom appeared to have taken their own lives in what appeared to be some kind of ritual.
Not since the terrible mass deaths at Jonestown decades earlier had Americans seen such a bizarre and ultimately tragic occurrence and few were able to understand how such a thing could have happened in the modern age. What could have caused so many people to willingly give up their lives, and who was he enigmatic man who’d convinced them to do it?
References
Ayers, B. Drummon. 1997. "Families learning of 39 cultists who died willingly." New York Times, March 29.
CNN. 1997. Applewhite sought cure for his homosexual urges. March 29. Accessed January 6, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/US/9703/29/applewhite/.
Lamotte, Greg. 1997. Heaven's Gate 911 call eerily calm. April 18. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://www.cnn.com/US/9704/18/cult.911/index.html.
Locke, Michelle. 1997. "Comet cult's stairway led to downfall." Record Searchlight (Redding, CA), March 31: 1.
Miller, Craig. 1997. "Web page business supported sect's life." North Country Times (Oceanside, CA), March 28: 1.
Perry, Tony. 1997. "Cult left no survivors, police say." Los Angeles Times, April 1: 3.
Perry, Tony, Michael Granberry, and Anne-Marie O'Connor. 1997. "39 dead in apparent suicide." Los Angeles Times, March 27: 1.
Purdum, Todd. 1997. "Videotapes left by 39 who died described cult's suicide goal." New York Times, March 28.
Steinberg, Jacques. 1997. "From religious childhood to reins of a U.F.O. cult." New York Times, March 29.
Weinraub, Claire, Christina Ng, Acacia Nunes, and Haley Yamada. 2022. Surviving member of Heaven's Gate cult reflects on mass suicide 25 years ago: 'It meant everything'. March 14. Accessed January 7, 2026. https://abc7.com/post/cult-next-door-diane-sawyer-special-heavens-gate-2020/11642749/.
Wilkens, John. 2017. "Cilt sought to 'exit' via spaceship." Los Angeles Times, March 20: B2.
Zeller, Benjamin. 2014. Heaven's Gate: America's UFO Religion. New York, NY: New York University Press.
—. 2014. "Anatomy of a mass suicide: The dark, twsited story behind a UFO death cult." Salon, November 15.
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Next Episode
Listener Tale 106 : Comfy Queens
January 29
•67m
Weirdos! We invite you to don your softest apparel, get comfy, and settle in for a batch of haunted listener tales! Nicholas DEFINITELY took note of the theme, and set the mood! This episode POPPED OFF before we even officially started the show. Curious to hear what freaked us out? Listen after the ending theme for the wild moments that didn't make the audio version!
LISTEN on all podcast platforms OR WATCH on Youtube!
Want to watch the episode on Sam & Colby's- Click Here!
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If you’ve got a listener tale please send it to DEB by emailing us at Morbidpodcast@gmail.com with “Listener Tales” somewhere in the subject line- and if you share pictures- please let us know if we can share them with fellow weirdos! :)
Huge shout out to our video edtitor @aidanmcelman
Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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