Walter Freeman
Morbid
08/21/23
•55m
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When Portuguese neurologist Egas Moniz developed the lobotomy in 1935, it was little more than a crude surgery developed as a blanket treatment for mental illness that involved drilling into the skull and scrambling the neural connections in the frontal lobe. Less than a decade later, however, American neurologist Walter Jackson Freeman had refined Moniz’s procedure and developed a non-surgical procedure that could be performed in a doctor’s office, which he called a transorbital lobotomy. What he touted as successes, quickly turned into a series of life altering failures...but he kept going.
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
Murder of Sophie Lancaster
August 17, 2023
•64m
In the early morning hours of August 11, 2007, Sophie Lancaster and her boyfriend, Robert Maltby, were passing through Stubbylee Park in Lancashire, UK, when they were attacked by a group of teenage boys who beat the couple savagely, resulting in Lancaster’s death two weeks later. The next day, police arrested two of the teenagers responsible for the attack, who told authorities they’d attacked the young couple for no other reason than they were dressed like “Goths.”
The tragic assault on the young couple was shocking in and of itself, but the murder was made exponentially more shocking by the ages of the killers and the ostensibly terroristic motive, raising questions about the state of youth culture in the United Kingdom.
thank you to the best of the best, David White for research assistance
References
BBC. 2022. Sophie Lancaster murder: Killer Ryan Herbert to be freed from jail. March 12. Accessed March 1, 2023. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lancashire-60766768.
Bunyan, Nigel. 2008. "Why did parents let Goth's killers roam the streets?" Daily Telegraph, March 28.
Butt, Riazet. 2007. "National: 'Tragedy beyond words' for family as woman, 20, dies after park attack." The Guardian, August 25.
Dunbar, Polly. 2008. "I've always tried to help young people escape crime." Mail on Sunday, March 30.
Evening Courier. 2008. "Boy, 15, 'kicked woman to death for being a goth'." Evening Courier , March 12.
—. 2008. "Two teenagers jailed for life for murder of Goth girl Sophie." Evening Courier, April 28.
Gordon, Cathy. 2008. "Goth's killers lose appeals; Teenagers must pay for 'appalling crime'." Daily Post, October 30.
Hodkinson, Mark. 2008. "United in the name of tolerance." The Guardian, August 2.
Hussain, Samrana. 2007. "Couple left badly beaten in skate park." Lancashire Telegraph, August 12.
Jackson, Kate. 2007. "Residents call for park patrols after woman’s death." Lancashire Telegraph, August 27.
Jenkins, Russell. 2008. "Youth aged 15 'kicked a woman to death because she was a Goth'." The Times, March 13.
Lancashire Telegraph. 2020. "Sophie Lancaster killer has minimum jail term cut for 'exceptional progress'." Lancashire Telegraph, February 10.
Manzoor, SarFraz. 2014. "The precious afterlife of Sophie Lancaster." Sunday Telegraph, February 23.
Rossendale Free Press. 2007. "Young couple fighting for their lives after vicious ‘mob attack’." Rossendale Free Press, August 16: https://www.rossendalefreepress.co.uk/news/local-news/young-couple-fighting-lives-after-1709148.
Smyth, Catherine. 2020. Weirdo, Mosher, Freak: The Murder of Sophie Lancaster. Lancashire, UK: Self-published.
Turner, Kate. 2007. "Skatepark youth 'may face murder charge'." This is Lancashire, September 27.
Usborne, Simon. 2017. "Robert Maltby on the murder of his girlfriend Sophie Lancaster." The Guardian, June 15: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/15/robert-maltby-on-the-of-his-girlfriend-sophie-lancaster-the-goth-thing-was-an-oversimplification.
Wainwright, Martin. 2008. "Woman died after drunken gang attacked couple dressed as." The Guardian, March 13.
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
Walter Freeman Pt 2
August 24, 2023
•70m
American neurologist Walter Jackson Freeman had refined Moniz’s procedure and developed a non-surgical procedure that could be performed in a doctor’s office, which he called a transorbital lobotomy.
Freeman’s procedure involved inserting a medical instrument similar to an icepick into the patient’s orbital socket to sever the neural connections, without requiring surgery, hospital stays, and long recovery times. Touted as a quick, easy, and painless solution to everything from general malaise and occasional depression to schizophrenia and aggressive behavior, the procedure a go-to solution for the very complex psychological problems that have affected countless people for centuries. Unfortunately, while the procedure was effective for a small number of those who received a lobotomy, it was used indiscriminately, often without consideration for the increasingly disastrous outcomes.
Today we talk about the tragic and disastrous lobotomy on Rosemary Kennedy and thousands more that occured after it.
References
El-Hai, Jack. 2005. The Lobotomist : A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Press.
Kaye, Hugh. 2023. The dark history of gay men, lobotomies and Walter Jackson Freeman II. April 25. Accessed July 19, 2023. https://www.attitude.co.uk/culture/sexuality/the-dark-gay-history-of-lobotomies-and-walter-jackson-freeman-ii-419069/.
Lenz, Lyz. 2017. The Secret Lobotomy of Rosemary Kennedy. March 31. Accessed July 18, 2023. https://www.marieclaire.com/celebrity/a26261/secret-lobotomy-rosemary-kennedy/.
National Public Radio. 2005. Frequently asked questions about lobotomies. November 16. Accessed July 18, 2023. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5014565.
—. 2005. 'My Lobotomy': Howard Dully's journey. November 16. Accessed July 18, 2023. https://www.npr.org/2005/11/16/5014080/my-lobotomy-howard-dullys-journey.
New York Times. 1939. "Front brain 'rules' thoughts on future." New York Times, April 8: 6.
—. 1947. "Personality shift is laid to surgery." New York Times, December 14: 51.
Prentice, Claire. 2021. "Lobotomy: The brain op described as ‘easier than curing a toothache’." BBC News, January 30.
2008. American Experience: The Lobotomist. Directed by Public Broadcasting System. Performed by Public Broadcasting System.
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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