“Iron Mike” Malloy survived not one, not two, but more than nine attempts on his life before he finally met his end. Malloy became the target of a group of acquaintances later dubbed the “Murder Trust,” who conspired to kill him for insurance money. What followed remains one of the most astonishing strings of failed murder attempts in history.

The conspirators served him cocktails laced with poison, swapped in antifreeze, turpentine, and even rat poison—none of which seemed to affect him at all. When that failed, they tried abandoning him in a snowbank to freeze, and later even staged a taxi hit-and-run. Each time, Malloy recovered, defying their plans and cementing his status as a near-mythic figure in true-crime lore.

Writer Riley Knight has chronicled the story of Mike Malloy along with some of history’s other strangest deaths. Some true crime, others simply unbelievable.

You can read his book, History's Strangest Deaths, here and listen to his podcast, Half-Arsed History, here.

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CREDITS

Guest: Riley Knight

Host: Claire Murphy

Senior Producer: Tahli Blackman

Group Executive Producer: Ilaria Brophy

Audio Engineer: Tina Matalov

GET IN TOUCH

Follow us on Instagram and TikTok @truecrimeconversations

Make sure to leave us a rating and review on Apple & Spotify to let us know how you're liking the episodes.

Want us to cover a case on the podcast? Email us at truecrime@mamamia.com.au or send us a voice note.

If any of the contents in this episode have caused distress, know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On July 15, 1976, a school bus carrying 26 children and their beloved driver, Ed Ray, left Chowchilla, California, after a hot day at summer school and never made it home.

Blocked by a mysterious white van, the bus was hijacked by armed, masked men and driven into a hidden slough, where the victims were transferred into dark, soundproofed vans. Over the next 16 hours, they would endure an ordeal that left lasting scars: being buried alive.

In this episode, we speak to Fox News Senior Correspondent Claudia Cowan, host of Nightmare in Chowchilla, to unpack the chilling ransom plot and its surprising perpetrators.

You can listen to the podcast Nightmare in Chowchilla: The School Bus Kidnapping here.

SURVEY

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CREDITS

Guest: Claudia Cowan

Host: Claire Murphy

Senior Producer: Tahli Blackman

Group Executive Producer: Ilaria Brophy

Audio Engineer: Tina Matalov

GET IN TOUCH

Follow us on Instagram and TikTok @truecrimeconversations

Make sure to leave us a rating and review on Apple & Spotify to let us know how you're liking the episodes.

Want us to cover a case on the podcast? Email us at truecrime@mamamia.com.au or send us a voice note.

If any of the contents in this episode have caused distress, know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If two teenage girls went missing today, would police just assume they’d run away from home? That assumption is why two Australian teenagers, Elaine Johnson and Kerry Anne Joel, have never been found.

Elaine was 16, Kerry was 17, living a carefree 80s life in The Shire, south of Sydney. The girls were seen hitchhiking on the Princes Highway, but by the weekend, they were gone. No calls. No sightings. Years later, the families uncovered police oversights, lost documents, and a cold case that never should’ve gone cold.

Journalist and podcast host Kate Kachor is retracing Elaine’s final days, hoping someone out there finally comes forward.

You can listen to Kate's podcast Out from the Cold: Searching for Elaine, here.

SURVEY

Want to win a $1,000 gift card in just 3 minutes? Fill out this short survey to help True Crime Conversations gather more information on what content you want to hear from us!

CREDITS

Guest: Kate Kachor

Host: Claire Murphy

Senior Producer: Tahli Blackman

Group Executive Producer: Ilaria Brophy

Audio Engineer: Tina Matalov

GET IN TOUCH

Follow us on Instagram and TikTok @truecrimeconversations

Make sure to leave us a rating and review on Apple & Spotify to let us know how you're liking the episodes.

Want us to cover a case on the podcast? Email us at truecrime@mamamia.com.au or send us a voice note.

If any of the contents in this episode have caused distress, know that there is help available via Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.