The Legend of Lavinia Fisher with Redhanded | Morbid | Forensic Files

hey weirdos I'm Ash and I'm Elena and I'm saruti and I'm oh and this is muggled but it's super duper special
because we have our friends from red-handed here today [Music] foreign [Music] well obviously in Boston yeah um about
it though didn't you yeah I really did like there's something out because we're on tour at the moment and the amount of
times I've like gone out on stage and how I'll start the show is but like insert City what's happening sometimes
is it Dallas or is it from this morning are you ready to be done I would do this for the rest of my life
like I'm so happily yeah I love the road through not so much getting my comfy pants I'm like look
we've been on the road for 27 days oh my God and I'm like that's great love meeting everybody excellent cities
having the best time but I'm also like I'd quite like to go back to my bed back to my shower and cook myself a meal in
my own kitchen oh it is not delivered to me in some sort of plastic carton yeah in my bedroom
I was gonna say we both are oh my god do you want to hear the biggest tragedy in
the world so before the show yesterday I ordered my ordered myself a very delicious sandwich and it was so
delicious that I was like I'm actually too stressed to enjoy this right now so I only ate a bit of it and I was like
I'm gonna take it back to the hotel and I'm gonna eat it later you forgot it I left it at the time
so I'm running on Cheez-Its right now oh that's terrible well Mikey's on his way
with a delicious spread four pieces of yogurt covered raisins or individual yogurt cupboards I had
like three bites of my kids left over like waffle that she had already taken like 100 bites of but I just quickly was
like before I left so that's what I'm running on I'm not gonna tell you guys what I had for breakfast because I had
an awesome breakfast so moving on now we're goblins right now and now she's like I don't know
I literally did you did you really did she had avocado toast I had a lot of garlic and onion on it I'm gonna throw
you under the bus and I made a little fruit salad yeah yogurt covered raisins anyone
Rumble in the middle of this it is one of any of our stomachs but we are actually we're doing a really
fun collab because I think we're like plan on the fact that I don't know if you guys noticed
but they're not from here it's really hard to tell they have awesome accents but I can
listen to literally all day that's why I love your podcast for everything but your voices are so soothing oh thank you
no one back home cares so it's always fun to come here see and we always get the like you of Boston
accents which are not like the they're not good accents they're not beautiful yeah
you have some of the worst Accents in this country so I don't think that's true I like the Boston accent yesterday
we were at the venue and the lovely old security guard he like walked me back to
the hotel oh yeah yeah they walked outside [Laughter] oh yeah [Laughter] [Laughter]
but we figured what we would do is we're kind of we're gonna do like a case I've
picked a really old case this is always the most fun I feel like I just I do we're excited right you can get fun with
these and this is a super like it has a lot of American yeah okay perfect I love American nonsense
just nonsense and the thing in itself so we're going to be talking about Lavinia
Fisher in the Six Mile House we've never heard of it are you good there before this I do this the cool thing about this
is it's got It's very American in and of itself because it's kind of exaggerated
to the point of shenanigans feel like is solidly American in and of itself just exaggerated to Shenanigans it sure is so
the actual so she's known as America's first serial killer first uh female serial killer oh okay but she's not at
all oh not even a little spoiler she might not even be a murderer please have my favorite type of cases right right so
this is like it has urban legend in it and has a lot of like the the South like before Civil War South in it which is
least so there's that and it's got Highwaymen in it oh cooling robbery I feel like it
really fits the bill here so this takes place in Charleston South Carolina which
now is like beautiful and is on Southern Charm I want to go there so badly right
I want to go there for my batch real great but it's a complicated tale and this definitely begs the question is
this really the story story of America's first female serial killer no or is this
I true series of events exaggerated over time into a living urban legend of some
sort yes I'll take either the idea of it it's probably exaggerated over time but
certain aspects are true and they're interesting because she was a criminal there was that so the story of Lavinia
Fisher unfolds against the backdrop of the pre-civil War era so it's 1815 to 1861-ish so like a little bit ago again
in Charleston South Carolina it was during a time of huge economic and social upheaval at this moment
Charleston was among the wealthiest cities of the British colonies and was a hub of imports and exports and
especially in the wake of the American Revolution so because of this it became one of the main entry points for several
several different trades but also for enslaved people being forcibly brought into our country and because it was
close to the ocean it became a base of operations for merchants in tobacco Industries cotton industry all the huge
Industries at the time so now at this time and this is all to tell you why this all occurred by the 1810s the
prosperity of Charleston was not as solid as it once was it had happened to the other other cities around too that
the revolution in the War of 1812 had taken a serious Financial toll on them I don't know why
me hold on Siri just popped up and she was like I don't know what to tell you could you please
okay okay sorry sorry just took this one all right so this happened in Charleston
and the city's leaders worried about a total economic collapse that it was going to be imminent at this time
because of this they feared the city would be quote reduced to a city of Beggars vagrants thieves and Cutthroats
wow right so Paris and they were thinking pirates pirates are just gonna infiltrate right right
into these ports and Pirates were still a thing but they weren't the pirates that were probably picturing like all
high seas adventures and like showing jokes like that's what I picture as a pirate Jack Sparrow they were like scary
as [ __ ] like like Captain Phillips yeah like scary and in the early 19th century
Merchant ships definitely still were fearing attacks from Pirates Who now were not sailing under the Jolly Roger
Skull and Bones flag they were sailing under flags of other countries to try to get through okay to make matters worse
in 1819 Charleston was experiencing a big outbreak of yellow fever and that was requiring every ship that was coming
into the city to be quarantined and inspected before even being allowed to dock at the Port so this was causing
tons of delays tons of complications for merchants people being sent away and with the city's Port dealing with all of
these crazy challenges and delays and the merchants getting angry the wagon trade remained the most viable way of
getting Goods anywhere you needed to go in the South the good old Oregon Trail the Oregon Trail which the actual game
of the Oregon Trail I don't know if you guys know it I've heard it where everyone dies of dysentery yes exactly
and you can like buy oxen so it's some sort of really old and timely Wild West Monopoly yeah pretty
much it's a computer game and it was like the earliest of all computer games so it's like that so it's not a board
game screen and it's we used to play it when we were little and I'm not really sure why like we thought it was such a
cool game to be like we didn't have our freaking trouble yeah if it makes you feel better guys
um when I was a child instead of playing the Oregon Trail I was playing planetary
taxi what is that which is an x-ray question an excellent game I think is what that is
um it was like one of those really old school PC games probably a bit similar to what you're describing but you were a
taxi driver in space Oh that's epic that's way better than Oregon Trail yeah and it gets better so people get in to
the bank your potential customers and they would be like oh I always get beaten by Farmer John in the fattest pig
of the Year contest take me to the planet where my pig will weigh the most and then you had to figure out which
planet had the greatest gravitational pull and then take him there and if you got it right he tipped you see you were
learning things they were trying to keep that you know pioneering American Spirit Alive and
Well in the Next Generation that is true I get it I get it fixed Wagon Wheels and
[ __ ] yeah you went to a general store you were like I would like some grain see
yeah you call it those old traditions dysentery and that was always the thing if you didn't die of dysentery then you
would go to the river and you were like well let's all take our lives in our hands and every once in a while get
across the river and you were like oh yeah we got yelled out by the actual game oh my god do you guys get yelled
out for mispronouncing places can you imagine that I mean no I did not imagine that yeah so what is it Oregon it's it's
Oregon Oregon Oregon but I grew up calling it Oregon Trail to Oregon as Oregon when we were little
I think it's a regional dialect something I think about all the time difference between
mispronouncing and Regional dialogue and saying something in your own accent exactly so like Americans will call me
Hannah right like that's not my name my name's Hannah how is it meant to be said in the Middle
Eastern pronunciation [Laughter] but this is the point like I don't get like just just have a night that's fine
at this point I've just changed my name to Susie Cuban on which is my American Alias by the way
but when she gets randomly selected in every Airport oh no I love it well that's like
Massachusetts specifically has the most gnarly names for places oh yeah which we
grew up just thinking that was normal but when people try to say the names they're like what is like that I can't
say the name of this state it is one of the ongoing jokes on red-handed yeah say
it Massachusetts I can now see it phonetically as it was filled out by all of our listeners and I
can visually see it so I say it that way you're like hitting each point but I love the problem with most of the cities
around here is like phonetically they make brilliant my favorite tweet will always
be what's the hardest thing you've ever had to tell anybody and people were like
oh you know and I had to call my sister and tell her that our father had passed away and somebody just wrote
Worcestershire sauce yep that's been a heart to beat on our show was this yourself yeah because
that's how you say it that's how you say it how else would what is that water water
that's another very American thing we just yell at each other about like saying things for no reason like we're
just we just can't let each other say things we've been on the receiving end of that all right it's definitely a
thing anytime you put your voice anywhere people are bound to just scream at you yeah you know it seems like it's
all good let's do something yeah let's keep going let's go yeah you know so let's go back to the 1800s which
was such a fun time get dysentery yeah get robbed by a Highwayman or a woman you need a pirate yeah meet up
that sounds kind of cool yeah you know if you get out to tell the tale you could like you could yo ho Yoho with
them absolutely you know yeah absolutely that's just what you do and I do you do so a pirate's life for you
stick a lime in it oh you know so we're we're in on the wagon trade now because that's the only way that we can
get anywhere otherwise everything sucks you're gonna get robbed by a pirate you're gonna get delayed at Port you
know everything's gonna suck but even though it was now keeping Charleston's economy afloat it wasn't
nearly as efficient as ships were for one horses um they get tired and they need to sleep
they drown in a river if you try to forge it too early I guess I don't even know what the reasoning for drowning in
the River in Oregon Trail was it was just like I think just because it was just a crap shoot yeah you don't know
how to swim yeah yeah right I'm like who's getting swimming lessons you know oh if you were in the river you
were gone yeah Rapids and you were like oh well there that goes but yeah that's what happened so so
horses need to rest they need to eat and while some traveling Merchants had no problem sleeping in their wagon and they
could do that without getting robbed or murdered uh the journey was often hundreds of miles and the driver not to
mention any occupants that they had with them would need to find some kind of shelter at various points along the
Route if especially for storms weather all that good stuff this gave rise to quote stage taverns or Inns known just
as houses ah like a public house exactly exactly and those were along the outskirts of
major cities where Travelers could stop for a night rest water their horses water themselves you know AKA shower
there you go but like the shipping industry the wagon and Stage trade came with a ton of fears not about Pirates
anymore but now about being robbed or having an entire wagon or coach be stolen right out from under you
so in the early Decades of the 19th century Charleston South Carolina was not so different from the other colonies
around it was always walking a line between the pre-revolution Wilderness of the past and the industrial socially
complicated society that was going to be on its way in the latter half of the 19th century but it was ruled by
Economic Opportunity mixed with intense fear of any kind of change so things weren't great it was very unstable at
that moment so let's get to the legend or urban legend of Lavinia Fisher so Lavinia and John Fisher they were
married and had lived much of their lives in or around Charleston when they were in their mid to late 20s the couple
operated an inn that was referred to as the Six Mile House along with what was known it was on Meetinghouse Road so the
name Six Mile House was basically the mile marker that it was all ever it would indicate to Travelers how far you
are from the city nice so other ends had names like Five Mile House four miles I would want to be like one mile
like we're number one that's what I would want to do six is like but these houses offered Travelers and Merchants a
place to stop and rest get food water and overnight stay and if they TR and as they traveled in Charleston to sell
their goods or as they traveled out that's where they would stop along this way so Travelers leaving the city would
be as John ralphio and Parks and Recreation would say flush with cash I had to you can never you can't let
that but they this made them very easy prey for Highwaymen or in this case Highway
women so the legend has it that Lavinia would lure and guess with her seductive Wiles I mean her name's Lavinia she must
be kind of hot it is a hot girl name right Lavinia I'm like you have to be good looking you did I feel like she was
yeah hopefully not only would she lure them in with her womanly wiles but then she would double down and cook them a
home-cooked meal to any man's heart you know I think she would sedate them with warm tea oh my God I mean I kind of
fancy there's always a catch yeah no one's a 10 out of 10. yeah you can't yeah she still sounds great to be honest but
she's a 10 but she will poison you take it or leave it boys now some say once their victim was unconscious or
asleep John would sneak into the room he would Rob them and he would murder them
but then it said that he quote butchered them and disposed of their bodies in their Cellar oh very bloody Benders
thank you I bring them up you're welcome in the next paragraph okay but there are
some variations in this story though another slight variation is that once they were definitely unconscious Lavinia
would open a trap door beneath the victim and they would drop into the basement which I like better
yes exactly yes hello and that's where they would be ultimately murdered and in some versions they even say that beneath
that trapdoor Lavinia herself which I'm like whoa Levidia had positioned spikes in the bottom of a pit which impaled the
victims as they landed no she should Miss Trunchbull the ultimate chunky yeah yeah and I
already dead when they get spiked yeah so it's just for the fun of it just so she can like it's very bloody Benders
because we're gonna get into them and they did do that [ __ ] just for the fun of it yeah so I wonder if that I got
tainted like a little bit of bloody vendors got mixed in with this story we do that a lot uh but John and Lavinia
were said to have quote a great number of skeletons found in the cellar of Six Mile House later it was said that they
had a Cellar full of human bones so it's getting bigger bigger as we go it's like
maybe one and then it's like a whole last Cellar I love it it starts vague it just gets bigger it's like maybe she
just like a great many people and it's like no she was impaling them on spice under her kitchen
it's just someone telling a story in one of those houses I'm not getting the reaction I need nobody cares there was
spikes listen up right under our feet like that I would have done that and she was a stone cold
hot tea her name's Lavinia she's gonna cook you dinner so you choose whether you're coming in but like
we just mentioned about a bunch of times it is very reminiscent of the bloody Benders they were we actually covered
the bloody bunny vendors long time I'm actually going to redo that one yeah that's one of those that I remember
doing in our living room so that was an early one and we have a few of those yeah we know the feeling well yeah I
just end up being like gonna take that one back can you do that better because yeah
it's a gnarly story and I think we could definitely I think it was only like an hour long episode maybe that we did on
it yeah and I think this could be like several episodes of the bodybenders now I'm like what was I doing bodybuilders
take two yeah they were an American family of murderers like an actual family wow just straight up serial
killers like kids and all yeah and it's real and it's real I feel what is this but we've never covered it but it kind
of reminds me of like there's lots of fake stories like that in the UK and there's the Sony Bean clan that sounds
familiar yeah Scotland they were kind of the inspiration for like The Hills Have
Eyes and so they were like meant to be um in Scotland this family of like cannibalistic um incestuous people
living in these caves like attacking people that walk past them and cannibalizing them the kids were there
all sorts of grizzly stuff if you look it up it is dark and then you realize actually it was just um anti-scottish
English propaganda yeah yes oh no it's just these Scottish people living in caves like they're
disgusting over there and they're like they are having sex with each other and they will eat you
absolutely true further into it avoid the caves no we definitely have a few of those
like that you know are fake that are like this whole family of cannibals no but the bloody Benders that's for me
they really did it and it was in the early 1870s and they had it was in Kansas and they had which like it kind
of fits like at that time in Kansas well yeah like at that time like Frontier family we're gonna murder people
everyone was probably mad there in 1870. but they had like a bed and breakfast quotations that they would lure people
into and then brutally murder them and they had a trapdoor that led into their Cellar and they would position the
victims sitting over the trap door and then I think it was like it it really is reminiscent of it because the wife would
like kind of distract whoever the victim was yeah and then the husband or one of
the sons would come up behind them slit their throat or hit them on the head with a hammer and then boom they would
go on her into that trapdoor wow often they would be robbed of whatever they had on them that was
usually because they would lure like wealthy people in that were like traveling through but sometimes they
would just do it for the thrill of it I wow like they would not get a wealthy person they were like well we're just
gonna look we're just bored yeah what else is there to do in Kansas Dusty I was literally thinking that
there's tornadoes yeah Kansas yeah was that the Dust Bowl why not we're educated it's Ebola does I
know but they were real they were able to confirm all the deaths they were able like people who did escape the bloody
vendors with their lives were able to be like oh yeah they tried to hit me in the
head with a hammer and I saw a trap door like they were able to be like yeah that's literally nice so this definitely
has a little bit of that infused in it and since it's around the 1800s it's like I think maybe it kind of layered on
top of each other and because Lavinia is a woman and there was a woman in the bloody vendors I think they were like
let's have another one can't just have one but in early tellings of this story John and Lavinia
Fisher are described as quote pleasing in appearance okay you've got to be you know John and Lavinia yeah they I felt
like they were in it couple for sure yeah they are and they knew how to give the weary traveler such a welcome as
made him feel the Inn was more like a home than a public Resort no is it the trap door
I think it was the spikes except the Ambiance of it all it was the lovely rug over the extractor on the
spikes but the Fishers weren't only praised for their Resort and their loveliness but also for their food which
was apparently described as excellent fare for men and beasts wow yeah I always want to hear about my
cooking whenever my husband's like this is delicious I'm like what a beast can we get a beef
this isn't enough but later however the entire area around Six Mile House is described as a Haven for quote gangs of
white Desperados who occupied certain houses and infested the roads leading to the city
white Desperado I know but it is said that Travelers pass these houses with fear and
trembling oh no because it was just bad guys I hate that um and they more the more dreaded than
any of the other of these haunts was known as Six Mile House occupied by John Fisher and Lavinia so the legend tells
listeners that the robberies and missing Travelers went on for more than a year until finally the bandits were located
in the neighborhood of five and six mile houses then traced to the houses themselves and the situation came to
head when a young man hatless and coatless oh no whoa excuse me how you meant to tell if he's a good guy or bad
guys if you are hat listen and coatless exactly it's quite hot in Charleston though isn't it no it is wicked yeah
almost as hot as in this room it's like if I saw him hat listen coastless I'd just be like well it's
warm yeah and then they were like you are either Desperado I don't know there's nothing
in between and he was right into town the atlas and coatless right how dare he and he was frantically
seeking the sheriff so the man told authorities that he had been attacked oh no and that those who had set upon him
he said were no less persons than the man and woman who kept Six Mile House I don't know if you remember but that is
John and Levine I knew the likely story I feel like this is just a cover-up because he's turned up drastically
underdressed at this time and he's like oh I was robbed I have to explain this so the man says he claims that he had
seen the fishers on the previous night going through his belongings and he had heard them make mention of having to
attend to him the following morning so he got out of there which I think was a little Hasty because they do run a bed
of breakfast so if they were like we should have come to our guest tomorrow he's like they're gonna murder me
he got he caught a Vibe but it's either a really good thing or a really bad thing I know maybe he just has a better
intuition than I do yes [Laughter] we spent all day yesterday telling people to trust their gun on the episode
yeah you're like I don't know about that if there's Breakfast no Continental though that's not good enough it's
really not cooked breakfast yes as long as I can have like butter buttermilk pancakes delightful sitting
in bed yeah right before you die yeah that's always kneaded into the trapdoor that's all that I need so the sheriff
went to Six Mile house that day and he drove the band of robbers out including John and Lavinia Fisher and he left a
man on site to ensure that these Bandits did not return so he was just like get out of your own house and this guy's
gonna stay here and make sure that you don't and when they did the man went for the law again because they came back
they were like we're not you have you left one guy I mean like many people and John Fisher you left one guy we're
coming back in so he went back to the sheriff again who at this time finally apprehended the entire gang and
confiscated 10 muskets some pistols knives and a large canister of powder from the house a large canister of
powder was it powdered sugar for pancakes no that's a question I don't think so I don't specify
so the Fishers were found guilty of highway robbery and they were sentenced to hang this escalated so quickly it did
I feel like there was a little build up to this that the sheriff wasn't taking any notice of anything that was going on
at Six Mile House and then suddenly they're like we need to hang them yeah suddenly that that's another part of
this that is very um especially old-timey American which was just like um you should die even just being a
hangman the a Highwayman was a hangover fan yeah the in um where I went to school there's like a little
um like a tiny little pyramid in the middle of a field and it marks the the last Highway meant to ever be hanged
really yeah oh that's so interesting listen oh that's so crazy the only reason to go down
where it was voted Britain's ugliest Town um but there isn't a nice song but there
is a very good it's like it's like this big and it's just in the middle of a field that is
cool those kind of things are always crazy to me like in Salem we have all those little memorials and they're
always like these small little things that are like this gnarly thing happens here yeah and that's all you have left
no it's true but we're wild we're full of them as you guys must be in Boston because like we've been going around and
we're like it's it's like the first place it feels like really really historic oh yeah since the circle as
[ __ ] and I used to work um where I used to work in London it was like in a really boring place to work nursing
Catherine's dock but I'd get off the tube and walk to my office and it was past like um uh was it Tower of London
and there's just a sign on my way to work there to be like this is where amberlynn was beheaded
and then all these tourists taking pictures of it and I'm like I'm just trying to get it
excuse me Amber but this is where amberlin was buried that is wow they also have um I
don't know how familiar you are with the Cinematic Masterpiece Pocahontas 2. um actually a weirdly pretty familiar
is still there so you know just yeah so you just walk right past it and it's just the gate on the Thames and it just
says straight as gay above it oh my God I think I should come to London I'm dying
um we will do this in a hot Studio there as well we did a five-parter on Jack the Ripper
it was like entrenched in it I was like I have to go she's dying to go to my channel
we gotta go okay we'll talk about this we're gonna do it I'm solving that case let's go I'm telling you that's my
lifelong ambition it is hot in here oh god what have I done so yeah the Fishers were found guilty of
highway robbery they were sentenced to hang they sat in their cells for nearly a year waiting on a pardon for their
execution and apparently when John was visited by a local priest he was very contrite he
wanted his soul to be saved but Lavinia she had no interest in Salvation she really only cared about being pardoned
it never came oh no when the day finally came John begged his wife to make peace
with her God but she absolutely refused to not one word of religious instruction
would she listen that's like kind about us especially I feel like especially back then yeah yeah straight up
Rebellion yeah now when their execution finally arrived apparently Lavinia had to be dragged from her cell while she
shrieked and raved like quote one insane was she insane or was she just about to
be hanged you decide I don't know might shriek as well yeah maybe I don't think a lot of us could be like stoic in
that moment but some say Lavinia and her husband were dressed in white outfits as
they made their way to the gal it's like matching white outfits while other variations insist that Lavinia was
wearing her wedding dress no she was not and when she finally reached the Gallows Lavinia blurted out
profanities from The Gallows which I think is the best um and before famously shouting if you
leave if you have a message you want to send to Hell give it to me some say Lavinia even cheated the
hangman at One Moment by jumping from the platforms back into position well just
above her own trapdoor and then hanged with John so to this day it said that lavinia's ghost haunts the grounds that
once held the old city jail where she was held for nearly a year before her execution others say she haunts
Charleston's Unitarian cemetery and whatever the case her spirit is believed to still quote Rome and haunt the last
areas she knew and where she felt most unsettled in her life so that's the story but here's the real story of what
happens Lavinia was a school teacher she retired at the age of 30. at the age of 30. yes you know back then
she oh yeah that's true that's true so not a lot is really known about the Fishers before their arrests in
actuality but for all intents and purposes their Story begins in the winter of 1819. in response to the rise
in Highwaymen robbing people you know that was happening all the damn time there were lynch mobs that were formed
and they were basically the one bringing Justice outside of the law to these random Highwaymen of course we know this
was often a legit Act of terrorism masked as Justice yeah so frustrated by the ongoing attacks on Travelers and
Merchants on Meetinghouse Road on February 16 1819 a heavily armed mob assembled and rode from Charleston in
the direction of Five Mile House oh damn they had received word that a gang of Thieves who was responsible for a string
of Highway robberies near Ashley Ferry had holed up at one of the houses and they were determined to smoke them out
and bring them to justice according to author Bruce Orr which we will make sure we get a little reference in the in the
show notes for his book The Mob allegedly had permission from the owners of several small houses in the area to
proceed as they saw fit which I don't know if I believe that I was gonna say I doubt that so like um
they said it was fine if we murdered these people okay so they said to do whatever we wanted while we were here
said it was fine if we lit this one on fire so talk to someone else I don't know now among the many obvious problems
with mob Justice is that lynch mobs tend to lack information and objectivity [Laughter]
I mean I haven't really thought out opinions we have cited sources instead they really only operate on
reactionary emotions and just Collective outrage that'll do it that's usually the
case no one's taking a step back and really thinking in these cases so in the case of the attacks along Meeting House
Road none of the victims who reported being attacked or Rob robbed could actually identify any of their attackers
so when the mob arrived at Five Mile House they had no idea who they were looking before they were just going in
there being like I guess we just take everyone in the house it's good to get swept up before you know what's
happening it's always good to act first and then go oops later you don't want to
be the last person joining the mob yeah then it just seems like you jumped on the bandwagon precisely they're working
off the like Mantra of like you ask for forgiveness not permission so like we'll
just later we'll deal with it it's fine we're just favorite kind of people you know yeah I'm not asking so nevertheless
when they entered the Inn the mob found a small group of individuals assembled inside and regardless of whether they
were the actual aggressors or robbers the group was instructed to grab whatever personal belongings they had
near them and get the hell out of the house immediately likely pretty confused yeah startled by
the appearance of a giant violent mob at their house the group of five mile house
um protested a little bit and they resisted a little bit because they were like what the [ __ ] is happening right
now so the mob was like okay and they just lit the building on fire oh [ __ ] they're like we gave you a chance burn
to the ground in a very small period of time people got out but they burnt it to
the ground with people in it is this one lavinia's house no this is next to Lavinia okay
gotcha gotcha so the mob was like well that worked really well because everybody got out
yeah so they were like all right so they moved a little further up the road hoping to Dole out some justice to Six
Mile House as well here we go so the Proprietors of Six Mile House and the visitors of Six Mile House actually they
actually listened and complied you would I'm wondering if they saw like I don't know this
maybe smelled a little something or maybe it was the actual Lynch Mob that was at their door that they were like
this is what this was smart they took context clues they put problem solving and they were like this is gonna end
badly for us we should leave yeah so they got out either way they left and to make sure they didn't return they did
that old standby where they just leave one guy standing at the door to keep the entire house out the entire Lynch Mob
too yeah exactly so it worked well in the past it has obviously so they and it and it works for six mile house so they
left a guy named David Ross at Six Mile House and they said don't let them back in I don't know if I trust him I don't
know about David Ross no I think bad for David Ross I don't know if I would pick
like David no I feel like I could overpower David Ross I don't know what name I would choose I've been thinking
about names a lot while we've been talking about this I feel like they're a hot guy names names there are like
strong names yep what's the hottest hot guy name if it's not John I was gonna say because you're bias
but I would say hot guy names Hawkeye names I don't know most guys are not that hot so
I don't know I've always thought maybe it's because of um The Little Mermaid is his name
Eric are you kidding Eric question I know he's such a prick in hindsight what was our qantases oh John John John
and then John Rolf there you go she I'm a princess and the frog girly Naveen um the hottest who's the hottest Disney
prince obviously General Shang oh yes Adam actually while we're on tour um people ask us you know what are your
like pre-pre-show rituals are only pre-show Rich well apart from watching 90 Day Fiance in our dressing rooms is
um listening to Mulan I'll Make a manner you guys can have it wow wow you save it for occasions where we
need to get specially hyped yeah there you go yeah I love one of my kids especially one of my twins is obsessed
with Mulan thanks to me loves that song and when she was like two she used to be like let's get down
to business let's go you get him yeah then it gets like super like not feminist at all
women and like yeah they did they did give you daughters who gives a [ __ ] what you
asked for you she's biting it she's fighting that's why we love Princess and the Frog
in our house too because it's like she's the best Tiana's like Tiana [Laughter] so yes so David Ross David is not to me
the guy I would leave I don't know why I know what you mean I know what you mean
right if there was a John around I'd be like John stay over there so it's like um are there any doctors here are there
any John's here exactly I feel like it's like a it's a solid name a little solid not Phil but Phillip
Phillip William Williams yes anymore okay except Harry Styles [Laughter] after don't worry darling
[Laughter] Jack so kind of yeah I don't trust him yeah so there's that well those are
names well they should have left Shang instead they left David and they told him you let us know if anyone returns
which this was kind of my favorite thing because it's like instruct us like or alert us if somebody returns and it's
like but they didn't have like a cell phone or a walkie-talkie so it's like jump on your horse and ride like miles
into town to be like hey they're there like I don't think that's gonna help but sometime later David Ross returned to
Charleston pretty frantically because he was like [ __ ] I have to alert you he was
asking for the sheriff and in his sworn testimony later Ross said he was the one
that was hatless and coatless that was not him immediate red flag I'm saying he said that shortly after 9 pm a man named
William Hayward one of the men who'd been forced out of Six Mile House by the mob he had returned to the inn and he
had quote cursed him collared him violently and pushed him out how dare he so William but like how dare he because
William's like this is my [ __ ] house like get out oh I'm so Dairy so he came in he called that guy on he was like
David get out of here okay I'm coming back at my house so we did and then he slammed the door on his face he was very
careful to say that that's his door I am the door in his face yeah so when David
Ross went back into the house and I love this because he's like David goes into the house that doesn't belong to him
that he was just thrown out of he goes back in and he asks Hayward hey can I get a couple of my things that I had
here no yeah Hayward apparently put his hands into his bosom and said you damned infernal
Rascal if you lay your hand on anything I will blow your brains out I am only going to call people damned and Inferno
Rascals but you have to touch their bosom as you said no I don't know about that I mean that's right
[Laughter] but after being rebuffed by Hayward a second time Ross was surprised to find
that more of the people from Six Mile House were now returning and we're like we're just gonna come back into our
house specifically John and Lavinia Fisher as well as two other men that Ross didn't recognize so Ross claimed
that at that point Lavinia Fisher quote Lavinia herself laid violent hands upon him she said catch these hands
she came for his book she choked him and then pushed his head through a glass window
Lavinia she's got no chill God [ __ ] around what's that like um horribly offensive
chart that people post on Twitter whether like how hot she is how crazy she is sure she's gonna throw your head through
a glass window but the Six Mile House Gang continued beating Ross with their fists and with loaded whips
no idea what a loaded whip was because a whippets I'm like what I looked it up an
apparently loaded whips were shot loaded and it would make them heavier and like
more dangerous so one end of the whip was it was essentially like putting rocks in a sock and beating someone with
it but like with a whip oh my God so it would cause a lot of damage I was trying
to think of some sort of joke like with loaded potato skins but then I just got hungry because I've only had three
raisins today I'm like oh now I'm thinking of food I just thought of Taco Bell real quick
thought about it passing thought it was only after they had beaten the crap out of David Ross with their hands and with
loaded whips and that Lavinia had choked him and thrown him no it was only after this that he was
able to get through that window and just take a run into the woods that man was running for his life he [ __ ] around
and he found out but he wasn't even done being [ __ ] around with because he ran
into the woods he reached the cover of the tree line and they started firing guns at him on the tree line
story like the other one was like the urban Line This is the real thing so he managed to make it back to a main road
and was crossing freitius bridge don't know what that is but I keep thinking of like righteous yeah
apparently it was just outside of proper Charleston and that's when he spotted the entire gang pursuing him still and
Lavinia shouted you damned infernal Rascals If Ever I catch you I will give you a hundred lashes I love her a lot
which also makes me think I'm like was Lavinia the one with the loaded whip yeah it sounds like him yeah I mean
maybe Six Mile House is some sort of BDSM dungeon what's going on in there yeah right that's what the spider for
yeah consent involved yeah but maybe it is maybe this is all just some really elaborate role play situation between
Lavinia and um our what's his name the running away man I'm sorry and somebody just saw it all
happening yeah and then wrote a really um loaded piece about how she was some sort of Highway woman but actually she
was just running some sort of innocent PDF stuff instead she was just like a really professional dominatrist to the
plot line hell yeah she was like you didn't say a safe word and he's running away because he wants it to end but he
can't remember the safety the safe way to shame it's a hard one to remember you know
she's just trying to make a movie so yeah she's she also used the Damned infernal Rascal which I'm sure is like
the [ __ ] of that day yeah like you know like everyone was just like oh you're such a damned infernal Rascal
which doesn't have the same no like you're an [ __ ] it doesn't pack the same Punch Yeah but yeah she's gonna
give him 100 lashes if he doesn't or if she catches him but the group must have kind of given up the chase at some point
she didn't catch him because Ross managed to make it safely back into Charleston that evening to cry in front
of a sheriff and be like why did you leave me in front of that house what a baby meanwhile it was David you left
David how's your own doing yo David yo David a merchant by the name of John peoples
which I love that fun peoples he was headed out of the city and my thing just went into black okay towards Meeting
House Road and when he reached Six Mile House John people stopped at the end this was after all of this it was around
11 p.m and he was just gonna rest and water his horse so you know as one does so once he stopped at the end he alleged
that he and his young companion who was a young boy I don't know if it was his son or what they don't say they were
attacked and robbed by multiple people at Six Mile House in His official affidavit he claims that as he was
arguing with his companion over who would get the water bucket for the horses nine or ten persons among them a
tall Stout woman came out of the same house it was armed with clubs guns and pistols
and immediately made a violent assault on them so according to people's the woman among
them was the most vicious of all of them it was active in beating him cutting him
over the head and eyes with a stick okay like it's a calm down the video is a talk to someone
this is what you poor Jim Shang but John peoples and His companion were eventually able to escape
the gang and made their way back to the road I love that they were just attacked
while they were watering their horse and they're like ah and they just like run away life was hard back then we think we
have a bad mouth trying to wander your horse these days just stopping at an end but although he wasn't aware of it in
that moment John peoples was pursued by two of the men in the gang to the road he just didn't know it
um and these two men rode up on him and the boy who was with him and they brandished pistols and demanded that
they hand over any money or valuables that they had after searching the man and the boy the bandits took his
pocketbook and it contained roughly forty dollars which is a pretty good haul back then and turned back in the
direction of Six Mile House so meanwhile John peoples and this boy raced back to
Charleston and immediately reported the attack to authorities although he couldn't positively identify each member
of the gang right then and there John people's quote had just caught us to believe that among them was William
Hayward John Fisher and his wife Lavinia Fisher another man named Joseph Roberts and
another man named John Andrews lots of Johns lots of Josephs so author Bruce Bruce Bruce
points out that among the more interesting aspects of the John people's affidavit is that the document looks
like it was written in the handwriting of a lot of different people so that's weird that is and on various
different points in the affidavit his name is spelled peoples like p-e-o-p-l-e-s and people's
p-e-e-p-l-e-s I wonder why so people think this means one at least another person was involved in writing that
description of events but they're not sure why and it's but it's also possible when you really think of like you know
history and reality in that time he might have not had an ability to read and write so they might have had to have
somebody documenting his report still interesting he also notes that the list appears to have been added to people's
affidavit likely after it had been filed and it's a list of the people they think
were in Six Mile House and that was John Fisher Lavinia Fisher William Hayward Joseph Roberts William Andrews Seth
Young no I never saw this no it's like when you watch Game of Thrones and you're
just like why is he called Jamie thank you you're like why is he called Rob Rob Tyrion
[Laughter] and it's like no just rub I do love Rob though he's my favorite so yeah actually you know what [ __ ] John
yeah thank you I don't get enough of that I would I'm a Rob girl yeah I mean a little hot headed like a little bit
think about it such a robot robbing Rob the Red Wedding was like a real dark moment
[Laughter] when he says mother oh no no don't go there so go there we said I just I put
this on my head and it's the way he says it and if anyone's complaining about spoilers that show's like 10 years old
yeah and all I said was he said mother okay he did love his mom so we gotta say which is a trick because we got like
John William Joseph William James John James John it's okay there is I don't accept
yeah pour one out for him so with sworn affidavits from two victims and Witnesses Sheriff clear Cleary quickly
assembled a huge Posse of police officers and Vigilantes on February 19 1819. that's when the group headed out
to Six Mile House and when they arrived at the end they surrounded the place demanded everyone's surrender
immediately and that's when they basically were able to search Six Mile House and they found that large storage
of weapons and powder so that was all true so the gang definitely had the means to resist them but I don't know
why they decided not to I don't know if it was they decided it was too big of a posse to overwhelm or John Fisher there
is one like set of tales and I kind of believe it because I feel like John Fisher was like a good husband yeah John
he's a child you know we love a job we do and John Fisher apparently said that he opted to surrender rather than risk
injury or desk death to his wife oh I believe that so he did that for Lavinia which in the power couple that is John
and Levin yeah believable whatever their reason was they were arrested without a
fight and the sheriff successfully did get John and Lavinia they also got James McElroy they did get Seth young but I
don't know if he ever comes up again and they got um somebody James Howard so evidence taken from the home and this
does come back so don't worry I'm not just randomly saying it was a large cowhide but they didn't own any cows so
they were like where the house yeah it was like a recent catalog and they were like what's this about so by the time
the gang members were being loaded into the wagon the scene had attracted a big crowd obviously because I always loved
that in these old-timey cases where it's like this huge crime scene and all these
people are just walking through it they're like whoa look at that blood like they're all just like taking pieces
of like skull fragments off the floor being like wow this was great Sunday thanks for having us yeah just walking
through it so a man named Stephen Lacoste who was a neighbor of Six Mile House went in there and he saw this cow
hide and he said [ __ ] that's my cow oh no oh my God missing oh no somebody had stolen this man's cow
defense for sure I was like damn stealing a cow that's a big business out of them I'm saying Justice for Steven
not cool was that the horse's name Stephen so rather than leaving the scene as it was or coming back later to search
it more they just set it on fire because easy what else are you gonna do I'm not
seem to be working well for them so it was burned to the ground and a few days after their arrest or a somewhat more
thorough search of the grounds around the area was made which I love that they burned the place down and they were like
we go back there and like see if there's any evidence really it's really cleared
out all the Clutter about it we made it easier made it sanitary um and at least two bodies were indeed
found buried near the house like right on the property one was the body of a male who'd been shot and the other was
the skeletal remains of a woman who'd been buried in an unmarked grave at least two years earlier so many of them
were ever identified oh wow oh good there was at least two there and the members of this Six Mile House Gang were
taken to the city jail which was apparently only a small step up from like medieval dungeons
there was no running water there was no bed or toilet instead there was a pile of wood chips where they were like
that's your bed and your toilet oh wow so have fun with that and apparently if you were a violent offender you were
just Shackled to a steel ring that was in the middle of the floor and if you stepped out of line you got the [ __ ]
kicked out of you um so that's fun and they said that it was also not unusual for a corpse to
reach an advanced state of decomposition before being removed from a cell so you
don't want to do any sooner you don't want to go to the city jail so at the time of John and lavinia's arrest South
Carolina still operated under Colonial justice system so this system was based on a mix of biblical edicts and laws
imposed by the British crown no thanks a lot as such the crimes of which the gang
were accused highway robbery were considered a capital offense and that made all members eligible for the death
penalty so by February 22nd the sheriff had also arrested gang member James Sterrett which would bring the total
arrested to seven some more arrests would come later by the end of the week I think there was
about nine people that were arrested from that house that were in the gang and once they'd all been rounded up they
were all brought before John peoples and he identified them all as the ones who violently attacked them and robbed them
imagine that so looking at their previous crimes that they've been punished for both John and Lavinia had
previously been arrested for theft which at least for John he had received 30 lashes for it James Starrett had also
been convicted of theft on one occasion and he had been branded as his punishment oh wow and Joseph Roberts had
had a piece of his ear chopped off as well I'm still not totally convinced these people weren't just taking part in
some elaborate BDSM situations it really is it should be quite honest on March 23 1819 John and Lavinia as
well as William Hayward and Joseph Roberts were brought before judge Hall Bay and they were going to determine
whether there was enough evidence to convict them at least of assaulting David Ross because remember David poor
Shang the judge said there was enough evidence and he set bond for all the individual
members but only Hayward and Robert Roberts managed to post post bail so Roberts got out but he didn't do well
with his immediate freedom because two days later he was again arrested for threatening the life of a local butcher
the same butcher that the gang sold the meat that belonged to the cow found in the elk building at Six Mile House that
belonged that they had the cowhide for well freaking Circle that's so satisfying I'm so impressed
I was just really intense I was like I really mean that you stole his cow and then killed him sold its me and you kept
aside that's not cool so the trial began on May 10 1819 and that's where John Lavinia William Joseph and James were
all indicted for assault with intent to murder David Ross the Attorney General's
document said the gang quote were said to have wielded pointed and fired a loaded weapon at David Ross with the
intent to kill him I agree by the time the hearing concluded on the 27th through various methods a lot of the
gang either skipped town were either to escape or somehow got off the indictment
I'm not really sure how it left really only John and Lavinia on the hook for the whole crime problem excellent so the
trial was drawing huge crowds and the couple was found guilty on both assaults with intent to murder and common
assaults on David Ross damn so on June 2nd they were brought before judge Charles Jones colcock for sentencing
however the sentencing part then got moved to the Constitutional court at the last second this is so complicated it is
so now it was going to be held and it wasn't going to be held until the conclusion of the trial and
unfortunately for John and Lavinia the Constitutional Court wouldn't be back in session until January
anyway so the couple was going to be held at the city jail where you pee where you
sleep and you might die and rotten there and this had been going on like almost a
year at this point yeah and in the meantime William Hayward had been recaptured in South Carolina and because
he was tried and convicted in absentia so while he wasn't there he was returned to Charleston to await with the Fishers
so the gang's all getting back together which is nice United and as a husband and wife John and Lavinia were held in
the same cell so that's that's sweet precious but they were on the ground floor initially oh that was like the
really bad floor to be on is everything dripping yeah there's no ventilation uh so Lavinia used her Wiles to get the
move to the debtors section of the prison which was on a higher floor uh the cells were much bigger not a lot of
infectious diseases so they were allowed to do that and weirdly the debtors section was also
where Joseph Roberts another member of the gang was serving his sentence for threatening the butcher so they were all
reunited again in the cell so on the evening of September 13th John and Joseph actually managed to dig a
hole under the wall of one of the cell Windows large enough for them to fit through and using a rope made of
blankets they tied together they climbed down the wall damn Joseph Roberts went out and then he got there John was going
down and the blanket rope snapped so he fell 20 feet to the ground below and now
Lavinia couldn't escape good so she's just sitting there with a giant hole I actually don't know anything about
this she's like you didn't want to go with the ladies first okay so they they were like oh no that
sucks and then they just died they just ran away no one noticed until the next morning that's when the governor is
issued Proclamation offering a 500 reward for their recapture the sheriff didn't have to look very far I don't
they weren't really smart I don't think this was really going a whole and again this is another case of John being a
really good husband even though he left Lavinia well don't you worry though because their original plan was to
escape and travel by boat to Cuba obviously but John refused to leave Lavinia behind so he and Roberts had
stayed close to the jail to try to come up with a plan for how to get Lavinia oh
okay love so he got himself caught that way a few days after their escape they were visiting a local grocer which I'm
also like guys what are you doing wanted convex the local grocer was like hi John and Rob
what aren't you supposed to be in jail because he immediately called Sheriff Cleary it was like hi I have them here
wow the sheriff found them hiding under an overturned boat which is similar to how
they found the Boston Market they found him on in a boat yeah yeah but they just shot out a bunch of times
can we say full circle we haven't brought them up yet but we're in Boston here we go and they were both returned
to the city jail they were gonna have to wait for that constitutional Court in January so on January 17 1820 John and
Lavinia appeared before the Constitutional Court they figured they were going to be sentenced for those
assaults and that's it but as they got there the prosecutor was like hey you're also going to be sentenced for highway
robbery and they were like wait though that's a capital offense and we will die and they were like that sucks don't know
what to tell you and it was on John peoples that's what they were they were now bringing that in at the five at like
the ninth hour so they ended up being sentenced to hang on February 4th 1820. in the week following their sentence
John and Lavinia had petitioned several clergy men and no notable charlestonians
uh just asking to intervene on their behalf because they were being sentenced for something they were
not tried and convicted of yeah if they did it they didn't have a fair trial so they claimed they wanted an opportunity
for repentance and for time to prepare to meet their God and so they wanted to reprieve at least the governor granted
the reprieve but the order only pushed the date back to like February 18th it was like a few days now while John and
Lavinia waited for execution they spent a lot of time preparing for death and what comes next with various clergy men
John like the original story apparently welcomed us he was like very intensely praying but Lavinia definitely
legitimately was not interested in this she was more worried about just saving herself she was like I would really like
just to live through this and not prepare for what comes next so they said when she engaged in prayer Lavinia would
jump at any moment or Noise by her captors she was convinced they were coming to her with a pardon so she was
totally convinced she was getting pardoned out of this to him and she was very confident evident that they would
not one execute her for a crime she had never been convicted of and to execute a
woman unfortunately she was wrong because yeah but at the time I will say contrary to what like Legends will tell
you many residents of Charleston really believed Lavinia was innocent of at least that crime and they were actually
advocating for her release wow which is wild uh but this got more intense when a
local man was arrested for an unrelated crime and allegedly confessed to the highway robbery
which is okay uh but he's um I'm like didn't John people say there was like a whole gang of people who came
out yeah this guy's like I did it though apparently the man was able to identify
the exact amount of money that had been stolen by from John peoples okay it was also being able to say other elements of
the crime that he probably wouldn't know if he wasn't there so maybe he was part
of the mob at least regardless of the confession though the governor refused to extend the reprieve and in fact he
left the city and just to avoid any negative press he was like I know this guy says that he did it and we never
actually tried you or convicted you for this but I'm gonna go on vacation honestly how on the nose is that though
yeah like I'm out yeah he was like I'm gonna go on vacation with my family yeah that's like in the in the Jack the
Ripper case when he was just like well I'm out I'm gonna go to Sweden and see you guys later yeah I hope you guys
catch up see ya good luck I mean there's one way to deal with all of your problems she's um
so now they were gonna be killed for crimes that they were very sketchally associated with and they weren't even
tried for but there were bodies found on their property so like this is kind of Mayhem yeah
you're like they didn't do some bad stuff they stolen killed a cow yeah so [ __ ]
they sold the meat and then they did two people died on their property at the very least and one of them was shot so
like one of them was shot yeah just saying so in February 18th arrived um caskets for the Fishers were selected so
beautiful and the hangman was measuring the length of rope when John and Lavinia
were LED from the city jail to The Gallows and apparently it is true that when Lavinia saw the hangman measuring
the rope that was going to be used to hang her with she shrieked in Terror her cry chilling every heart with horror
which yeah yeah that'll do it they were presented in the Town Square before they
went to The Gallows and they were covered in loose white garments together apparently it's like a smock thing I
don't know why they would do it but they were given one final opportunity to say
goodbye and at this moment they fell into each other's arms ruined me wow They begged the hangman to spare
their lives but the hangman was indifferent to their suffering and he was apparently very aggressive and like
manhandled the moon he's a hangman yeah you know that's you have to be to have that job but once John and Levidia had
gone on the Lavinia excuse me had gone on the wagon they made their way to The Gallows huge crowds are following them
it's like a parade and when they arrived John Klein the scaffold without incident
but Lavinia refused to move from her spot at the bottom of the stairs she had to be carried up on the platform once
there she called out to the crowd apparently with her arms outstretched asking them to save her wow they all
literally were like nah it was like that like blink blink just crickets so then she began cursing them
and blaspheming apparently blaspheme them girl yeah they're not helping you yeah so finally the Reverend asked John
whether he had any final words and John decided to address the crowd and he begged forgiveness for those he had ever
offended and he also claimed his and lavinia's innocence they both embraced one final time the sacks went over their
heads signal from the sheriff down they go the Press reports that Lavinia quote died without a struggle or a groan and
that John unfortunately wasn't so lucky and it was some minutes before he expired and ceased to struggle ouch yeah
so just after 2 p.m on February 18th 1820 John and Lavinia Fitcher were pronounced dead he was is only 29. she
was 28. oh my God I was picturing like people who were like 50. me too me too for real they were young
so John and Lavinia Fisher were members of a gang of Thieves that much is true Lavinia Fisher was definitely not
America's first serial female serial killer by any means no it's possible she never killed anyone it's possible she
did kill someone in truth the only crime they really acknowledged committing was
robbing and beating David Ross the legend grew nonetheless and in the Years following their execution John and
Lavinia Fisher's story became a media tale of just murder and Mayhem it was huge in the Penny Dreadful Publications
and pamphlets they really took it and ran with it in 1830 a man named Peter Nielsen published a book where he
claimed to have been in Charleston at the time of the arrest and he said the Fishers had been robbing and killing for
years and according to Bruce Orr Nielsen claimed quote on digging around this den
of iniquity a great number of skeletons were found no doubt the remains of unfortunate Travelers so people still
claimed that there was tons of skeletons in that house everywhere exactly and actually in the
latter part of the 19th century lavinia's skeleton was exhumed from her coffin in a Potter's field and put on
display at the Charleston museum so everyone could see the remains of the only woman to have been hanged in South
Carolina wow they were occasionally uh I loved this because when I read it I was
like what does that mean because they were occasionally removed from their display for being out of order like the
video was out of order out of order I was like wow did she need a tune-up like what does that mean yeah I don't know
about all that border oh but as of it was latest 1922 they were still on display holy [ __ ] yeah and they were at
that point they were definitely not just like a band of gang of like Bandits they
were she was the first female serial killer at that point because that's what they were telling her as wow who had
like hundreds of bones in her Cellar you're gonna get those punters in right you got to and I think part of this
story is definitely she was a woman so it's exaggerated because female criminals of her caliber were definitely
not common even if her real caliber were not common her rest and story definitely
became a huge interest of the time and even now and at the in the 19th century many of if not most people believed that
women were incapable of violence of any kind never mind murder so Lavinia was just something like new and fascinating
I think and so she's just the legend just got a life of its own but there is always moral lessons and like social
lessons in urban legends don't steal someone's cow but this story people like to say is
that this is telling you what is and isn't acceptable of a woman at the time it's very clear that they were trying to
be like look at the consequences for stepping out of your normal like you should be at home popping out babies
something like cooking dinner you're gonna get hanged like that's essentially what it was and finally there is the
convenient fact that the legendary account of lovina Fisher's monstrous killing spree and being the serial
killer it justifies a lot of problematic elements of the real story The Legend kind of makes law enforcement and the
justice system at the time like they swept in and they just took care of the heinous crimes we took these people off
the streets so they were painting them as these vicious violent Killers so it kind of also justifies the this
execution that was probably not justified at the time because they were not tried for this
crime and who even knows if they committed it but according to Bruce Orr the government had actually been hoping
to secure the land that Five Mile House and Six Mile House sat on oh so we know exactly what it was going to build a new
Naval base no wonder they were burning all that [ __ ] exactly that was actually
the government so the execution of the Fishers in William Hayward who owned Five Mile
House by the way that would have cleared the property for the state to do whatever the hell they wanted to do with
it without having to jump through any hoops and that is the story of Lavinia Fisher
that's Bonkers Six Mile House well done thank that was outstanding it's like a twisty tourney like what really happened
and I love that we started with some sort of Highwayman robber situation then we transmitted into some sort of BDSM
dungeon exactly and then we ended up with government corruption yeah that's what I always like to travel through via
the Chinese Empire [Laughter] it's a weird tale that was amazing I can't believe I'd never heard of that
I'm gonna go look into this and the bloody thing yeah I've made a mental note super interesting and you guys
should look into Sony Bean it's not real but it is quite fun it is interesting absolutely yeah and then we have to just
get you to come to London so we can show you all the grizzly signs yes please yeah we can take you to the clink yeah
oh yes yeah please there's a bar in shoreditch that used to be a prison and um I probably can't go because my
ex-boyfriend works there but we'll send you that and it's all of the like little
booths downstairs or old cells oh that is so [ __ ] I love it it's very it's very many things let's put you in
Disguise so you can come with that well that was amazing thank you so much for having us thank you listening to
this great story anytime now we get to do another one with it yeah exactly so we're gonna do one now and ours is
Witchy oh hell yeah it is very English very similar time period we're going for 18.75. oh my gosh perfect I love an 18.
very perfectly matched yeah over on uh the red-handed feet now we will take you witchy oldentamy 1875. uh
story I can't promise we go to the Chinese Empire but we do all sorts of things yeah
yeah she's waiting there I switch feeds yeah let's go let's go and yeah come hang out with us at
red-handed hell yeah we're gonna be there guys so check us out there and we hope you keep listening and we hope you
keep it weird but that's where you steal somebody's cow because I just don't really like that
yeah I'm really fixated on that bye [Music] thank you [Music]

Some say Lavinia would lure men to the inn and lull them into a false sense of calm, before robbing and killing them, then dumping their bodies in the cellar under Six-Mile House. Others say Lavina would drug the weary travelers with a special tea, before pulling the lever on a trap door and dropping the men into the basement, where they would be robbed and killed by John Fisher. And still others believed Lavina guilty of much darker practices involving the devil. But stories—especially local legends—have a way of shifting and changing over time, exchanging mundane facts for sensational speculations, and in this case, begging the question, who was the real Lavinia Fisher and just what was she guilty of?

Thank you Dave White for research assistance.

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Brief Summary

Lavinia Fisher's legend as America's first female serial killer is examined, revealing historical context and urban legend surrounding her story.

Key points

Life on Tour. The hosts share their experiences and struggles while on tour, including missing home comforts.
The Legend of Lavinia Fisher. The hosts dive into the story of Lavinia Fisher, America's first female serial killer.
The Bloody Benders. A family of cannibals in Kansas who lured victims to their deaths.
The Fisher's Execution. John and Lavinia Fisher were sentenced to hang after being found guilty of robbery.
Lavinia's Last Words. Before her execution, Lavinia Fisher defiantly shouted a message to Hell.
Lavinia's Ghost. Lavinia Fisher's spirit is said to haunt the grounds of her former jail.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I'm running on Cheez-Its right now.

2:06WatchApr 18, 2023

Tension

60/ 100Some tension

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