During World War II, thousands of German prisoners of war were held in camps across the United States — but some never made it home.
Inside the barbed-wire fences of places like Camp Gruber, Tonkawa, and Fort Meade, Nazi loyalists turned on their own — murdering fellow soldiers accused of betraying Hitler or showing kindness to Americans.

In the summer of 1945, fourteen of those killers were executed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas — the largest mass execution of enemy soldiers on U.S. soil.

This episode of Deadly Truths digs into the forgotten story of the Leavenworth 14 — from the brutal lynching of Johannes Kirsch in Oklahoma, to the burning of Karl Beck in Maryland — and explores what happens when fanaticism outlives the war that created it.

History remembers them as war criminals… but their story still echoes today as a warning about propaganda, obedience, and the price of blind loyalty.

• U.S. Army Court-Martial Records, Fort Leavenworth (1943-1945)

• The Leavenworth 14: Execution of German POWs in the U.S. — Kansas Historical Society Archives

• “Camp Tonkawa: The POW Lynching of Johannes Kirsch” — Oklahoma Historical Society Journal, 2019

• “Fort Meade Executions: The Beck Murder Case” — Military Law Review, Vol. 8

• “Enemy Within: Nazi Discipline in U.S. POW Camps” — Smithsonian Magazine, July 2015

• National WWII Museum: POW Camps in America, 1942-1946

• Eyewitness Account, U.S. Army Chaplain’s Log, Fort Leavenworth, July–August 1945

If this episode made you think — share it.
If it taught you something new — like it.
And if you believe forgotten history deserves a voice — follow Deadly Truths on Spotify, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and CastBox.

Every share, follow, and review helps this show reach more listeners who believe the past still matters — and that truth, no matter how dark, should never stay buried.

This podcast discusses real historical crimes involving death, war, and execution. It is intended for mature audiences and should be heard with care and respect for the individuals and victims involved.
All research is based on verified historical documents, declassified military records, and reputable archival sources.
No dramatization or speculation replaces factual reporting.

Leavenworth 14, Fort Leavenworth, World War II POWs, German Prisoners, Military Executions, Camp Tonkawa, Camp Gruber, Fort Meade, Nazi Loyalists, American History Podcast, True Crime History, War Crimes, WWII Justice, Deadly Truths Podcast, Becca True Crime, Forgotten Murders, Military History, Execution Stories, Historical Crimes, Kansas History

In January 1901, a young Black man named Fred Alexander was dragged from his jail cell by a mob and burned alive outside Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. His only “crime” was being accused — not tried, not convicted — accused. This bonus episode of Deadly Truths: Death in the Big House examines how racism, mob violence, and media hysteria collided to create one of Kansas’s darkest moments. Through historical records, modern reflection, and the city’s recent efforts at remembrance, we revisit the story of Fred Alexander — and the reckoning that came more than a century too late.

⚠️ Trigger Warning: Contains descriptions of racial violence and lynching.

📘 Show Notes & Resources:

• Equal Justice Initiative — Community Remembrance Project: Leavenworth, KS

• Richard Allen Cultural Center & Museum — Leavenworth, KS

• Kansas Reflector (2020): “The Lynching of Fred Alexander”

• Leavenworth Times Archives — January 1901 editions

• Facing History & Ourselves: Lynching in America

• Clio Database: Fred Alexander Historical Marker, Leavenworth

• ACLU of Kansas: Civil Rights & Historical Memory Series

• 📜 Disclaimer:This episode discusses historical racial violence and lynching. Some descriptions may be distressing. This content is intended for educational and historical awareness purposes. All research is drawn from public historical records, newspapers, and scholarly sources.

  🎧 Closing Call to Action:Like, share, and follow to help keep these stories alive — because history doesn’t haunt us because it’s gone. It haunts us because it’s not forgotten.

  #DeadlyTruthsPodcast #TrueCrimePodcast #FredAlexander #LeavenworthKS #RacialJustice #EqualJusticeInitiative #AmericanHistory #CivilRightsHistory #FortLeavenworth #HistoricalTrueCrime #DeathInTheBigHouse #JusticeForFredAlexander #KansasHistory #PodcastSeasonTwo #RacialViolenceInAmerica

  
  

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas — the oldest military prison in the United States, and the only one authorized to carry out executions.
In this episode of Deadly Truths: Season Two — Death in the Big House, host Becca takes you inside the walls of the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks to uncover the stories of the men currently on military death row — soldiers once sworn to serve, now condemned for murder, rape, and wartime atrocities.

From paratrooper Ronald Gray, to Hasan Akbar, Timothy Hennis, and Nidal Hasan, these cases reveal what happens when discipline collapses, and the military justice system turns inward on its own.

This is the hidden world of military death row — where honor, duty, and death meet in silence.

🎧 Season Two, Episode Four

This episode contains descriptions of murder, sexual assault, and military executions that may be disturbing to some listeners.
It is intended for mature audiences and for educational and historical awareness only.

All research and reporting were conducted using public court records, news archives, and verified historical documentation.

If you found this episode powerful, don’t let these stories fade into silence.

👉 Like, share, and follow Deadly Truths on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
⭐ Rate the show to help more people uncover the stories that history tried to bury.

Every listen helps keep these voices alive — because history doesn’t haunt us because it’s gone.
It haunts us because it’s not forgotten.

Death Penalty Information Center — Descriptions of Cases for Those Sentenced to Death in U.S. Military
deathpenaltyinfo.org

Death Penalty Information Center — U.S. Military Death Penalty: Facts and Figures

Associated Press — A Look at the Six Inmates on U.S. Military Death Row

Army Times — What Death Row Executions May Mean for Soldiers at Leavenworth

We Are The Mighty — The 4 Inmates on Military Death Row for a Combined 80 Years

NCO Journal — NCOs Help Keep Life Quiet at the Disciplinary Barracks

U.S. Army Corrections Command — United States Disciplinary Barracks Overview

Equal Justice Initiative — Two Systems of Justice

United States v. Ronald A. Gray — U.S. Army Court of Criminal Appeals

• United States v. Hasan Akbar — Court-Martial Proceedings Summary

• United States v. Timothy Hennis — DNA Evidence and Retrial Reports

• #DeadlyTruthsPodcast #TrueCrimePodcast #FortLeavenworth #MilitaryDeathRow #RonaldGray #HasanAkbar #TimothyHennis #NidalHasan #LeavenworthPrison #MilitaryJustice #DeathPenalty #TrueCrime #HistoricalTrueCrime #SoldiersCondemned #USArmy #PodcastSeries #DeathInTheBigHouse #HalloweenInTheBigHouse #JusticeSystem #TrueCrimeStory

Before true crime was a genre, one story changed everything — the brutal 1959 murders of the Clutter family in Holcomb, Kansas. Their deaths shocked the nation and inspired Truman Capote’s groundbreaking book In Cold Blood, a work that blurred the line between journalism and literature.

In this bonus Halloween episode of Deadly Truths: Season 2 — Leavenworth, Death in the House, host Becca Clark revisits the crime that redefined American true crime. From the quiet Clutter farmhouse to the execution of Perry Smith and Richard Hickock at the Kansas State Penitentiary near Leavenworth, this episode dives into how it happened, why it haunted the country, and how justice was ultimately carried out.

📚 Resources:

• Kansas Bureau of Investigation Archives – Clutter Family Case Files

• A&E True Crime: “The Real Story Behind In Cold Blood”

• HistoryHit: “The Crime That Changed True Crime Forever”

• Kansas Historical Society – “Holcomb Murders, 1959”

• State v. Hickock (363 P.2d 541, 1961) and State v. Smith (221 Kan. 439, 1977)

• Death Penalty Information Center – Historical executions in Kansas

• Capote, Truman. In Cold Blood (Random House, 1966)

• ⚠️ Disclaimer:

  This episode discusses murder, capital punishment, and violent crime. Listener discretion is advised.
  All historical details are drawn from verified records, official case files, and published works by journalists and historians.

  ❤️ Support & Engagement:

  If you enjoyed this episode, please follow, rate, and share Deadly Truths on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
  Your support helps independent creators bring haunting history and true stories of justice to light.

Fort Leavenworth, April 13, 1961 — thunder rolled across the Kansas sky as Private John A. Bennett became the last soldier ever executed by the U.S. military.

Convicted of raping an 11-year-old Austrian girl, Bennett’s case raised hard questions about justice, race, mental health, and mercy within America’s armed forces. He confessed to the assault, was tried by court-martial, and hanged at Fort Leavenworth — yet controversy still follows his story decades later.

In this Bonus episode of Deadly Truths: Season 2 — Halloween in the Big House, host Becca Clark revisits Bennett’s early life, the crime in Austria, the military trial, and the storm-soaked night of his execution. We’ll examine what happened, why it ended the era of military hangings, and how unequal justice shaped the outcome.

📚 Resources:

• ExecutedToday.com: “1961: John A. Bennett, the last American military execution (so far)”

• Los Angeles Times: “The Last Soldier to Die at Leavenworth”

• Time Magazine: “The Soldier Who Was the Last to Be Executed by the U.S. Military”

• Death Penalty Information Center: The Death Penalty in the U.S. Military

• U.S. Court of Appeals (10th Circuit), Bennett v. Davis, 267 F.2d 15 (1959)

• Menninger Foundation Archives, Topeka, Kansas

• ⚠️ Disclaimer:

  This episode contains discussions of sexual assault, racial injustice, and capital punishment. Listener discretion is strongly advised. All information is sourced from verified public records, historical archives, and journalistic reports.

  If this story moved you, please follow, rate, and share Deadly Truths on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.
  Your support helps independent storytelling thrive — and keeps history’s darkest truths from being forgotten.

Welcome to Season Two of Deadly Truths. I’m Becca, your host — and this season, we’re stepping inside the heart of America’s most haunted fortress: Fort Leavenworth.

Behind these stone walls, soldiers were tried, executed, and buried under numbered headstones — their stories silenced, but never gone. Between 1875 and 1961, at least 136 men were executed at the Old U.S. Disciplinary Barracks, making it one of the most chilling sites in U.S. military history.

In this Halloween bonus episode — The Ghosts of the Disciplinary Barracks — we’ll uncover the dark history of Fort Leavenworth’s executions, the real soldiers who met their fate there, and the eerie encounters reported long after the last gallows fell silent.

From Private John Bennett, the last man hanged by the U.S. military, to the infamous Leavenworth Seven, their spirits still echo through the halls — boots on the catwalk, whispers in the dark, and the creak of a rope that never stops swinging.

This is Leavenworth: Death in the House — where history and horror share the same address.

👉 Sources:
U.S. Army Combined Arms Center – Fort Leavenworth Historical Office
Haunted Kansas: Ghost Stories and Other Eerie Tales (Lisa Hefner Heitz, 1997)
The Old USDB at Fort Leavenworth Archives
Leavenworth Times Historical Reports

🎧 Disclaimer:
This episode contains historical descriptions of execution and death that may be disturbing to some listeners. All accounts are sourced from public military archives and verified publications.

💀 Like, Share & Follow for more real crime, real history, and the echoes that refuse to die.

#DeadlyTruthsPodcast #HauntedLeavenworth #FortLeavenworth #USDisciplinaryBarracks #HauntedPrison #TrueCrimePodcast #HistoricalCrime #HauntedHistory #MilitaryPrison #GhostStories #BeccaClark #ParanormalPodcast #RealGhostStories #LeavenworthGhosts #HalloweenPodcast #HauntedKansas #AmericanHauntings #DeadlyTruthsSeason2 #LeavenworthDeathInTheHouse #CreepyHistory

Robert Stroud, better known as the “Birdman of Alcatraz,” is often remembered through a Hollywood lens—mystified, softened, even glamorized. But the truth is darker. Originally sentenced to just 12 years for killing a man in Alaska, Stroud chose violence again and again behind bars. At Leavenworth, he murdered a prison guard, guaranteeing he would never leave the Big House alive.

This Halloween, we peel back the myths and step into the cold corridors of Leavenworth, where Robert Stroud’s true legacy isn’t feathers or cages—but blood and brutality.

And stay tuned—because next time, we unravel Cold Blood, the crime that shocked America, and how its killers also crossed paths with Leavenworth’s haunted walls.

⚖️ Disclaimer

This podcast discusses real historical crimes, prisons, and violence. It contains material that may not be suitable for all listeners. Listener discretion is advised. All information is sourced from historical records, books, and news archives.

“If you enjoyed this episode of Deadly Truths, don’t forget to like, share, and follow wherever you get your podcasts. It helps us keep uncovering the shadows of history—and bringing you more haunting tales from behind the walls.”

📚 Resources for Show Notes

• Stroud, Robert. Bob Stroud’s Story: Memoirs of the Birdman of Alcatraz. (original writings, later published)

• Gaddis, Thomas E. Birdman of Alcatraz. Random House, 1955.

• Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary archives — Kansas Historical Society.

• Alcatraz East Crime Museum: Robert Stroud Exhibit.

• Federal Bureau of Prisons historical files.

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