The Story of Laurie Bembenek and the Tragic Murder of Christine Schultz (With Special Guest Holly Madison)

Morbid

02/01/24

•

54m

About

Comments

Featured In

Holly Madison joins us to give us a sneak peak at one of the cases they are covering on Season Two of the Playboy Murders. We talk about the tragic murder of Christine Schultz and the trial, conviction, and escape of Laurie Bembenek. It's a tragic story that is light on justice for anyone!

She also chats with us about the second season overall of the Playboy Murders which premiers on January 22nd! You can find it on Investigation ID and stream it on MAX!

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 Mysterious Death of Charles Morgan

January 29, 2024

•

62m

In March 1977, Arizona businessman Charles Morgan went missing from his home in Tucson, only to turn up three days later in the middle of the night, shoeless, traumatized, and with broken plastic handcuffs on his wrists and ankles. Unable to speak, Charles wrote that he had been drugged by an unnamed individual and kidnapped, but he refused to let his wife call the police or otherwise report the assault. Three months later, Charles Morgan’s body was discovered in the desert with a gunshot wound in the back of his head, one of his teeth wrapped in a handkerchief, and a two-dollar bill pinned to his underwear.

From the outside, Charles Morgan appeared to live a very normal and decidedly unexciting life. Yet when investigators began digging into his background to find out who would have wanted him dead, they discovered a complicated and bizarre story of supposed government agents, mobsters, and a mystery that one would have expected from a Hollywood screenplay, not the life of a middle-aged Arizona escrow agent. The increasingly bizarre details of Morgan’s life and death comprise a fascinating mystery that remains unsolved to this day and endures as one of Arizona’s most baffling cold cases.

Thank you to David White, of the Bring Me the Axe podcast, for research assistance

References

Bassett, Edward, and David Dykes. 1977. "Mystery death a suicide?" Tucson Citizen, June 22: 1.

Bassett, Edward, and Richard Wood. 1977. "Slain businessman's bank dealings probed." Tucson Citizen, June 27: 3.

Flanagan, Ray. n.d. "Did 'hit-man."

—. 1990. "Did 'hit-man' with ties to region figure in Arizona death case?" Tribune, September 25: 3.

Heltsley, Ernie, and John Rawlinson. 1979. "1977 shooting ended Tucsonan's two lives." Arizona Daily Star, February 4: 1.

Jordan, Tracy. 1990. "City residents asked to drop a dime on hit man." Times Leader, October 22: 3.

Kwok, Abraham. 1992. "Phoenix death a mistaken 'hit'?" Arizona Republic, May 6: 10.

Matas, Kimberly. 2010. "Strange evidence found in '77 on, near man's body." Arizona Daily Star, March 31: A08.

1990. Unsolved Mysteries. Directed by John McLaughlin. Performed by John McLaughlin.

Salkowski, Joe, and Enric Volante. 2002. "Mob faded locally long before key figure died." Arizona Daily Star, May 19: 1.

Svejcara, Bob. 1977. "Sheriff finds no foul play in Morgan death." Arizona Daily Star, August 11: 13.

Svejcara, Bob, and Ernie Heltsley. 1977. "Slain businessman seen during 'absence'." Arizona Daily Star, June 23: 1.

Tucson Citizen. 1977. "Sheriff's probe says Morgan was a sucide." Tucson Citizen, August 11: 4.

Wood, Richard. 1977. "Slain Tucson executive: solid citizen... mystery man." Tucson Citizen, June 21: 2.

—. 1977. "Woman says Morgan hid, trying to buy off his life." Tucson Citizen, June 21: 1.

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

Florence Burns and the Murder of Walter Brooks

February 5, 2024

•

85m

When twenty-year-old Walter Brooks was found dead from a bullet to the head on Valentine’s Day 1902, suspicion immediately fell on Brooks’ nineteen-year-old sometimes-girlfriend, Florence Burns. The two were known to have a tumultuous relationship and had fought violently on the morning of his death, and there was considerable evidence indicating that Burns had been in the hotel room at the time of Brooks’ murder. However, despite all the evidence indicating guilt, Florence Burns was never brought to trial for Brooks’ murder or even formally charged with a crime, and Walter Brooks murder officially remains an unsolved case in New York.

While the story of Walter Brooks and Florence Burns is relatively uncomplicated in terms of the crime around which the story is built, the story is a remarkable illustration of the ways in which things like class, gender, and technological advances can influence and even shape how the law is applied in the United States. Indeed, at the time of the murder, the nation was undergoing incredibly social and cultural changes as a result of dramatically expanded transportation and communication technology, giving rise to a youth culture the likes of which had never been seen in the nation prior. That youth culture and the rebelliousness it produced in many young wealthy Americans played a direct role, not only in Walter’s life and death, but also in the socio-cultural perspectives and Victorian beliefs that allowed Florence to get away with murder.

Thank you to the wondrous Dave White of Bring me the Axe Podcast & 99 Cent Rental for Research!

References

Evening World. 1902. "Denised she shot broker in hotel." Evening World, February 15: 1.

Ferranti, Seth. 2019. The Affluenza Murder Case That Shocked America 100 Years Ago. March 15. Accessed December 11, 2023. https://www.vice.com/en/article/d3meyv/the-affluenza-murder-case-that-shocked-america-100-years-ago.

McConnell, Virginia A. 2019. The Belle of Bedford Avenue: The Sensational Brooks-Burns Murder in Turn-of-the-Century New York. Kent, OH: The Kent State University Press.

New York Times. 1902. "Brooks murder case ends." New York Times, May 21: 5.

—. 1903. "Florence Burns on the stage." New York Times, February 15: 10.

—. 1902. "Jerome on Burns case." New York Times, March 25: 7.

—. 1902. "Man shot, girl arrested ." New York Times, February 16: 3.

New York Tribune. 1910. "Florence Burns again in hands of police." New York Tribune, September 21: 1.

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.