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When the Coroner Says It’s Not Murder

Two teenage boys are found dead on railroad tracks near Mena, Arkansas.

The ruling? Accident.

A man is found with four gunshot wounds to the chest.

The ruling? Suicide.

Now… I don’t know about you, but that should at least make you pause.

Because once that word is written down — accident, suicide — everything shifts. Detectives slow down. Prosecutors adjust. The public moves on. And families are left staring at a piece of paper wondering how in the hell that conclusion was reached.

This episode isn’t about internet rumors. It’s about documented rulings. It’s about the Arkansas medical examiner whose determinations between 1979 and 1991 didn’t just describe deaths — they shaped what happened next.

The Boys on the Tracks case didn’t begin as a homicide investigation. It began as an accident. Only after family pressure and a grand jury did that story change.

And that four-gunshot suicide? That became one of the most talked-about determinations of the era. Not because of conspiracy podcasts — because people read it and said, “Wait… what?”

We also talk about the atmosphere at the time — alleged drug smuggling tied to Barry Seal, the later federal convictions of prosecutor Dan Harmon. There is no ruling tying those convictions to the deaths discussed here. But when narcotics investigations, local power structures, and fast accident rulings all overlap, people start asking questions.

This isn’t an episode where we declare some secret master plan.

It’s simpler than that.

If the coroner says it’s not murder… who argues?

And what happens when the person holding the pen is the most powerful voice in the room?

“Thank you for listening to Things I Want to Know.
You want these stories, and we want to bring them to you — so hit the support link and keep this circus, and the mics, alive.
Then do us a favor and rate and subscribe; it helps the show find more people like you — the ones who like their mysteries real and their storytellers unfiltered.
And if you want to wear a little of this madness, grab some Andrea-approved gear at paulgnewton.com.
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Support the show

Things I Want To Know
If you enjoy the show, or you just like supporting people who refuse to shut up, grab some merch at PaulGNewton.com. It keeps the lights on and the caffeine flowing.

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Was H. H. Holmes really Jack the Ripper?

It’s one of true crime’s most persistent myths. This week on Things I Want To Know, we break it apart using motive, method, timeline, and behavioral profiling.

Andrea takes Whitechapel and builds the Ripper’s profile. Paul steps into Chicago and dissects Holmes. Same era. Completely different predators.

Holmes built traps. Private rooms. Insurance scams. Control and profit at the center of every decision.

The Ripper attacked in public. Fast escalation. From Polly Nichols to Mary Jane Kelly, the violence intensifies in a way that reads like compulsion, not commerce.

We test the royal rumors, the traveling American theory, and the fantasy of one man committing both crime sprees across an ocean.

By the end, the myth looks dramatic.

The evidence does not.

If you prefer psychology over headlines, follow the show. And if you disagree, send us your case.

“Thank you for listening to Things I Want to Know.
You want these stories, and we want to bring them to you — so hit the support link and keep this circus, and the mics, alive.
Then do us a favor and rate and subscribe; it helps the show find more people like you — the ones who like their mysteries real and their storytellers unfiltered.
And if you want to wear a little of this madness, grab some Andrea-approved gear at paulgnewton.com.
We make t

Support the show

Things I Want To Know
Where two stubborn humans poke the darkness with a stick and hope it blinks first. If you know something about a case, report it to the actual police before you come knocking on our door.

If you enjoy the show, or you just like supporting people who refuse to shut up, grab some merch at PaulGNewton.com. It keeps the lights on and the caffeine flowing.

Send a text

What if your entire town was built on something that wasn’t real?

Claremore, Oklahoma once rebranded itself as “Radium Town.” Hotels. Parades. Bathhouses. Souvenir jugs. Steam rooms packed with believers.

One problem.

The water didn’t contain radium.

It smelled like sulfur. It burned your nose. And it sold like a miracle.

This episode dives into the radium craze that swept America after the Curies made the element famous. We talk about the Radium Girls, radioactive tonics, glowing promises, and how one Oklahoma town rode that wave hard enough to turn prairie into profit.

There were publicity stunts. Legal fights. City officials declaring the wells a nuisance. And yes — a promoter who was reportedly dead… until he wasn’t.

Then medicine catches up. The glow fades. The wells get capped.

But the town survives.

We break down how Claremore pivoted when the miracle stopped working — and why the story still matters today, because radium wasn’t the last cure people bought without asking questions.

It just glowed louder than most.

If you like odd Americana, marketing gone wild, and history that smells like rotten eggs, this one’s for you.

“Thank you for listening to Things I Want to Know.
You want these stories, and we want to bring them to you — so hit the support link and keep this circus, and the mics, alive.
Then do us a favor and rate and subscribe; it helps the show find more people like you — the ones who like their mysteries real and their storytellers unfiltered.
And if you want to wear a little of this madness, grab some Andrea-approved gear at paulgnewton.com.
We make t

Support the show

Things I Want To Know
Where two stubborn humans poke the darkness with a stick and hope it blinks first. If you know something about a case, report it to the actual police before you come knocking on our door.

If you enjoy the show, or you just like supporting people who refuse to shut up, grab some merch at PaulGNewton.com. It keeps the lights on and the caffeine flowing.