Unsolved Mysteries of the World

This is Season 6's Halloween Special. We are LIVE recording from Ancaster, Ontario's infamous and reportedly haunted Mafia Tunnel.

The Mafia Tunnel - LIVE HALLOWEEN SPECIAL 

Anneliese Michel was born in Germany on September 21, 1952. She grew up in a devoutly, somewhat extreme, Catholic family. Pictures of her taken in her childhood show a vibrant, pretty girl on her way to becoming a gorgeous woman. She had shining black hair, an open, honest face and a stunning smile. By the time she was 23-years-old, she was emaciated, heavily bruised, scarred and deranged. She was supposedly taken over by demons and fought for nearly eight years before finally losing her battle with evil. Later, her death was labeled negligent homicide, but was there anything anyone could have done for Anneliese Michel? Were those who were with Anneliese really fighting Satan?

The True & Complete Story of the Exorcism of Anneliese Michel

On Friday, April 13, 1951, Troy Powell and Ernest Walrath were executed at the Idaho State Penitentiary for the crime of murder in the 1st degree, a crime both young men confessed and plead guilty to. The execution took place outside the walls of the prison in #2 yard, away from other inmates. It serves as Idaho's only double execution to date, as well as the youngest men to be sent to the gallows in Idaho's history. This bonus episode explores the crime and the perspectives of a former retired Idaho supreme court justice, the daughter of Walrath and Powell's attorney, and the current historic sites administrator at the Old Idaho Penitentiary.

The Haunted Old Idaho State Penitentiary Bonus Episode

Welcome to Unsolved Mysteries of the World Season 6 Episode 15, The Old Idaho Penitentiary Part III In the 1940s and 1950s the Idaho Penitentiary again was suffering from overcrowding and a new cell house was constructed. Cell Block #5 held the worst of the worst with maximum security cells, a death row, its very own indoor gallows and drop house.This housing unit is rumoured to be the most haunted of all the buildings on the property, even though, only one official hanging took place within. It was also that last State sanctioned execution in Idaho taking the life of Prisoner # 9509 Raymond Allen Snowden in the most unethical way. On the evening of September 23rd, 1956 Cora Lucille Dean drove to the Hi-Ho Club in Garden City, where she intended to have a few drinks and play the slot machines. Here she met a young man named Raymond Snowden who she found no only attractive, but fun to be around. When the two had a few drinks, Snowden wanted to take things a bit further and pressured Cora. When his advances were denied he threatened Cora in a frightening manner asking her to choose between rape and death. Cora obviously taken aback chose neither and that made Snowden angry who produced a pocket knife and stabbed Cora 29 times.The body, which was found the next morning by a paper boy, was viciously and sadistically cut and mutilated. An autopsy surgeon testified the voice box had been cut, and that this would have prevented the victim from making any intelligible outcry. There were other wounds inflicted while she was still alive — one in her neck, one in her abdomen, two in the face, and two on the back of the neck. The second neck wound severed the spinal cord and caused death. There were other wounds all over her body, and her clothing had been cut away. The nipple of the right breast was missing. There was no evidence of a sexual attack on the victim; however, some of the lacerations were around the breasts and vagina of the deceased. Snowden took the dead woman's wallet hailed a passing motorist and rode back to Boise. There he went to a bowling alley and changed clothes. He dropped his knife into a sewer at a Cigar Shop and threw the wallet away. Then he went to his hotel and cleaned up again. He put the clothes he had worn that evening into a trash barrel outside the hotel.Police narrowed in on Snowden almost immediately as eye-witnesses pointed out that Snowden had left with Cora that evening from the Hi-Ho Club. Police also, remember Snowden from a previous encounter as to which he boasted he was going to sever the spinal cord of his then girlfriend because she was irritating him. They found the weapon, the same one they remember him previously threatening with, still covered in blood in a sewer grate near Hannifin's Cigar Shop. Another eye-witness placed Snowden there and that was enough for an arrest to be made.During the trial it was brought to the attention of the media that Snowden had boasted of two other murders, but they were never confirmed. A detective magazine at the time dubbed Snowden, "Idaho's Jack the Ripper" in view of the viciousness of the crime.Snowden was found guilty and sentenced to death. He took up residence in Death Row with his door in view of the indoor gallows to which he would make his way to on October 18th, 1957. At 12:05 he was brought into the gallows room and met with the Chaplain. The noose was placed around his neck and the witnesses in the viewing room got their first look at Snowden. The door sprung just 45 seconds later. Down went Snowden and the crowd gasped. It seems the Warden and those responsible for carrying out the deed did not measure Snowden's height or weight, and s such the counter-weight was not calculated correctly. Snowden fell, but he did not break his neck instantly. Instead, in the catch room, he struggled and swung about for 15 minutes until he finally died. Some say it was an oversight, while others believed the authorities did this on purpose to make Snowden's death one of suffering. Snowden's hanging was the last of a total of ten men to occur at the prison and his body was buried in an unmarked grave on prison property. Some believe that Snowden haunts his Cell, Cell Block #5 and the hanging room. But Snowden may not be the only soul still doing time at the Pen. There are a total of 129 recorded deaths within the walls. Due to overcrowding and the treatment of prisoners serious riots occurred in 1952 and again in 1971. The 1973 riots proved to be the end of the Old Idaho Penitentiary as riots burned down several buildings and damaged others beyond repair. The 416 resident inmates were moved to the new Idaho State Correctional Institution south of Boise and the Old Idaho Penitentiary was closed on December 3, 1973, never to see another living soul imprisoned behind its stone walls. If you are interested in the Old Idaho State Penitentiary you can visit them daily where tours are conducted by volunteer staff. Special events around Halloween turn the prison into one goulish haunted attraction. More recently, the Pen has been giving Paranormal Investigation Tours. Special thanks to all those volunteering to keep such a historic gem alive. Thank you to the Idaho State Historical Society for their excellent resources and dedication. We will attach a bonus episode that was produced by the staff of the Idaho State Pen with funding from the Idaho State Historical Society.It focuses in on the prison's only double hanging. If you like what you hear, head over to their youtube page to see additional videos.We will leave you now with the words and memories of prisoners and staff from the Old Idaho State Penitentiary.Until Next Time.....Be good.

The Haunted Old Idaho State Penitentiary Part Three

The Haunted Old Idaho State Penitentiary Part Two

Welcome to Unsolved Mysteries of the World Season Six, Episode 13, The Haunted Old Idaho Penitentiary This is a Three Part Episode with bonus material added for those interested in taking a deep dive into one of the most active haunted prisons in the world. There is no other word to describe The Old Idaho Penitentiary, other than misery. It is a stark reminder of the brutal, cruel and insanely inhumane life of a prisoner in Idaho's early prison system. And some may argue that Idaho has just reasoning for such conditions with inmates such as the State's first female serial killer to the United State's Jack the Ripper – the Old Idaho Penitentiary in Boise, Idaho saw the worst of humanity. Over 13,000 souls passed through The Old Idaho Penitentiary since the doors opened in 1872 and some say, not all of them left. In fact, there is so much activity within these old walls that occurrences are a daily event. The complex was first constructed in 1870, a full 20 years before Idaho became a state. The Territorial Prison, as it was then known, was first built as a single cell house near the city of Boise with the very walls and building built by the prisoner's themselves. The single cell house was only to be used to house about 20 individuals, but soon, they had nearly 60 individuals imprisoned and needed to expand the grounds. In 1890, the prison was expanded and included a new cell house that housed 42 individual steel-door caged cells. However, even with this new expansion, the prison was still taking in criminals. The individual-sized cells were holding two to three individuals making for very difficult living conditions. The cells did not have washrooms and only a honey-pot was used. Each cell had one honey-pot, or basically a bowl to urinate and defecate in. The honey-pot lay on the ground in the cell and was only cleaned out once per day, in the morning just before breakfast. Now in the sweltering desert heat of summer, the honey-pots made the air thickly sick. In the winter, the urine and feces would freeze making the cleaning even more difficult. Often times, because the cells were so crowded, the honey-pot would be kicked over, or stepped into. Cells were only cleaned once per month. Prisoner's sent to the Idaho Penn, knew that they would suffer through extremely hot conditions in the summer and brutally cold conditions in the winter. The cells had very little ventilation and only one radiator producing heat on the main floor by the guards on duty. The new cell house was divided into three classes. The first floor held the more favorable prisoners, while the second held those more violent or those with longer sentences. The third was reserved for those doing life, or condemned to death. These particular cells had a clear view of the beautiful rose garden. The rose garden also was where the large wooden gallows stood. Without knowing this history, and it not being on the tour, many visitors wondering through this area suddenly find that they have developed a headache, or a neckache. They feel sudden gusts of cold wind and the feeling as if being watched. One particular witness claimed they saw an apparition of a man in striped prison clothing tending to the blooming roses. Others have seen the same man walking about and thinking he is a museum staff member dressed up, they ask to have a photo taken or to ask a question, only to find the man vanishes before their very eyes. The Warden and guards were absolute power-hungry and kept prisoner's in line by exacting beatings that left prisoner's just shy of death. Officials looked to more ways of influencing prisoner's to behave and keep in line and in 1926 they erected a small, low brick building that prisoner's knick-named Siberia – the end of the earth, the loneliest place on earth. It was solitary confinement, an often unbearable punishment for those who crossed the guards. Prisoner's were placed in unlit rooms with no beds that measured 3 feet by 8 feet. Prisoner would be let out once, per week, for one hour, usually for a quick shower and then placed back in, the large steel doors closing behind them. There were three meals provided each day. Breakfast was a bowl of oatmeal, lunch was a bowl of oatmeal and supper, you guest it – a bowl of oatmeal. Inside, prisoner's usually went mad. Some prisoner's just screamed and yelled all day and night. For those prisoner's who kept in line a multipurpose building was constructed which operated many different operations including a shirt factory, a licence plate shop, a laundry, a bakery, and a shoe factory. In the rear of the building larger showers were made for the prisoner's but these were communal and often the location of unsavoury events. In one reported incident, a prisoner was gang raped to death in the shower area. During these early years there were a few female inmates scattered about the yard, but many became pregnant and it is not certain if the women were willing participants, raped by the male inamtes or if the guards themselves were assaulting the women. In 1920 a separate cell block was constructed with a separate wall just outside the main prison walls to house the females separate from the male inmates. The cell block was a lot more comfortable than the men's but that did not mean that the females were any less dangerous. In fact, one of the United State's first female serial killers was housed in the women's cell block. In 1912 Lyda Southard, aged 21, married Robert C. Dooley and moved to a farm in Twin Falls, Idaho. Together they lived with their infant daughter and Robert's brother, Ed Dooley. In 1915, Ed mysteriously died right after taking out a life insurance policy which would be payed to Robert and Lyda. Just a few short months later, Robert died as well. A few months after that her daughter, Lorraine (only two years old), also died. Lyda collected the life insurance money of each person in her family. Two years later, Lyda married William McHaffie and together they moved to Hardin, Montana. William as soon as he settled into his new home died under similar mysterious circumstances. A year after that, Lyda married another man, Harlan Lewis, who died two months later. Lyda collected the insurance money on both husbands before leaving Montana and returning to Twin Falls, Idaho. In Twin Falls, Lyda got a job at a cafe where she met her next husband, Ed Meyer. Ed fell extremely ill and never recovered just months after meeting his new love. His death was the one that prompted suspicion among the community. Nobody could wrap their minds around how a strong and healthy man like Ed would suddenly get sick and die. The exhumation of his body was ordered for further inspection, which ultimately led to the discovery of arsenic in his body. The sheriff assigned to the case, Virgil Ormsby, began tracing Lyda's past whereabouts and ordered the exhumation of the other three husbands' bodies. They all contained traces of arsenic poisoning. Law enforcement immediately began their search for Lyda, who fled Twin Falls when suspicions about her began to arise. Lyda fled to Hawaii where she met another man. But authorities caught up to her and brought her back to Boise, Idaho. Lyda's trial got national recognition and she had now gained the moniker of Lady Bluebeard. She was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 10 years to life in the Idaho Pen. During her time spent in the Women's Ward at the penitentiary, she befriended a fellow prisoner named David Minton while gardening. When Minton was released from prison, he helped Lyda escape on May 4, 1931. The two made their way to Denver, Colorado before splitting up. In Denver, Lyda married another man, Harry Whitlock, and continued to live there until she was eventually recaptured by authorities one year later. Lyda was brought back to the Idaho Pen and remained in prison until she was paroled in 1941. Once out of prison, she married yet again. This man disappeared from records but his disappearance was never proven to be linked to Lyda. Lyda finally settled down in Salt Lake City, Utah, but died of a heart attack in the 1950s. Ironically, her body was brought back to Idaho and buried near her dead husbands, her child and the officer who arrested her. In the 1930s, with the prison population still exploding, the solitary confinement rooms, the ones that were just 3X8, now housed up to six prisoners. Cell house #4 became operational during this time. It was the largest of the cell houses and had large steel doors housing hundreds of prisoners. In front of cell house #4 a reminder to prisoners to keep in line lay on the ground. Huge steel doors revealed a very tiny cage below ground. Those unruly prisoners were thrown into the hole, the doors shut. Cell House #4 is closed to the public, but it appears as if the ghostly remains of one of the prisoner's still makes it out to startle and scare visitors and museum staff alike. Please Join Us in Part II of this episode topic where we showcase the crime, capture, conviction and ultimate slow-death of one Carl C. Van Vlack, notorious murderer.

The Haunted Old Idaho State Penitentiary Part One

Welcome to Unsolved Mysteries of the World Season Six Episode 12 Japan Airlines Flight 1608. It was November 17, 1986 and a huge Japanese Boeing 747-200F cargo aircraft was en route from Paris France to Narita International Airport near Tokyo Japan. It was an uneventful flight until the aircraft was above Alaska, near Anchorage. At 17:11 hours crew noted specifically that they observed two strange objects coming up to the left side of their aircraft. They rose from below and proceeded to maintain a similar speed and appeared to be escorting the cargo jet. All three crew members: Captain Kenju Terauchi an ex-fighter pilot with more than 10,000 hours flight experience,in the cockpit's left-hand seat; co-pilot Takanori Tamefuji n the right-hand seat; and flight engineer Yoshio Tsukuba all witnessed the objects approach and flight. As the objects got closer they noted each had two rectangular arrays of what appeared to be glowing nozzles or thrusters, though their main frames remained obscured by darkness. The Captain believed they were some sort of military aircraft and were simply identifying the flight, but their maneuverability was mind boggling. "The thing was flying as if there was no such thing as gravity. It sped up, then stopped, then flew at our speed, in our direction, so that to us it [appeared to be] standing still. The next instant it changed course. ... In other words, the flying object had overcome gravity." recalls the Captain. Then, suddenly, the two objects came closer and illuminated the entire cabin and produced and intense heat. Air traffic control was notified at this point, who could not confirm any traffic in the indicated position. After three to five minutes the objects assumed a side-to-side configuration, which they maintained for another 10 minutes. Each object had a square shape, consisting of two rectangular arrays of what appeared to be glowing nozzles or thrusters, separated by a dark central section. Captain Terauchi speculated in his drawings, that the objects would appear cylindrical if viewed from another angle, and that the observed movement of the nozzles could be ascribed to the cylinders' rotation. Then the two craft then departed as quickly as they had come, but then the crew noticed something even more strange. A much larger craft was no tailing them. This time, they could identify its shape and each of the crew detailed a disc shaped flying craft was behind them. Captain Terauchi now noticed a pale band of light that mirrored their altitude, speed and direction. Setting their onboard radar scope to a 25 nautical miles (46km) range, he confirmed an object in the expected 10 o'clock direction at about 7.5nmi (13.9km) distance, and informed ATC of its presence. Anchorage found nothing on their radar, but Elmendorf's NORAD Regional Operations Control Center (ROCC), directly in his flight path, reported a "surge primary return" after some minutes.As the city lights of Fairbanks began to illuminate the object, captain Terauchi believed to perceive the outline of a gigantic spaceship on his port side that was "twice the size of an aircraft carrier". The object followed "in formation", or in the same relative position throughout the 45 degree turn, a descent from 35,000 to 31,000ft, and a 360 degree turn. The short-range radar at Fairbanks airport failed, however, to register the object.Anchorage ATC offered military intervention, which was declined by the pilot, due to his knowledge of the Mantell incident. The object was not noted by any of two planes which approached JAL 1628 to confirm its presence, by which time JAL 1628 had also lost sight of it. Captain Terauchi cited in the official Federal Aviation Administration report that the object was a UFO. In December 1986, Terauchi gave an interview to two Kyodo News journalists. Japan Airlines soon grounded him for talking to the press, and moved him to a desk job. He was only reinstated as a pilot years afterwards, and retired eventually in north Kanto, Japan. Kyodo News contacted Paul Steucke, the FAA public information officer in Anchorage on December 24, and received confirmation of the incident. The FAA's Alaskan Region consulted John Callahan, the FAA Division Chief of the Accidents and Investigations branch, as they wanted to know what to tell the media about the UFO. John Callahan was unaware of any such incident, considering it a likely early flight of a stealth bomber, then in development. He asked the Alaskan Region to forward the relevant data to their technical center in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he and his superior played back the radar data and tied it in with the voice tapes by videotaping the concurrent playbacks. A day later at FAA headquarters they briefed Vice Admiral Donald D. Engen, who watched the whole video of over half an hour, and asked them not to talk to anybody until they were given the OK, and to prepare an encompassing presentation of the data for a group of government officials the next day.The meeting was attended by representatives of the FBI, CIA and President Reagan’s Scientific Study Team, among others. Upon completion of the presentation, all present were told that the incident was secret and that their meeting "never took place". According to Callahan, the officials considered the data to represent the first instance of recorded radar data on a UFO, and they took possession of all the presented data.John Callahan however managed to retain the original video, the pilot's report and the FAA's first report in his office. The forgotten target print-outs of the computer data were also rediscovered, from which all targets can be reproduced that were in the sky at the time. After a three-month investigation, the FAA formally released their results at a press conference held on March 5, 1987. Here Paul Steucke retracted earlier FAA suggestions that their controllers confirmed a UFO, and ascribed it to a "split radar image" which appeared with unfortunate timing. He clarified that "the FAA [did] not have enough material to confirm that something was there", and though they were "accepting the descriptions by the crew" they were "unable to support what they saw". The sighting received special attention from the media, as a supposed instance of the tracking of UFOs on both ground and airborne radar, while being observed by experienced airline pilots, with subsequent confirmation by an FAA Division Chief.It would have been the end of the UFO story but for an extraordinary observation by a military aircraft just a short time after the Japan Airlines incident. On January 30, 1987, a US Air Force KC-135 was flying from Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage, Alaska, to Eielson AFB near Fairbanks. The crew of the KC-135 reported a large, silent, disc-shaped UFO at about 20,000 feet altitude. At this time, Anchorage radar control showed nothing unusual. In a moment, radar control asked the pilot of the plane if they still had the unknown object in sight. The frightened pilot replied yes, and added that the UFO was only 40 feet from the plane. The cockpit recording referenced the JAL - 1628 incident, which had occurred only a month earlier. The pilots of the military aircraft were startled as they observed what they believed was a similar shaped object, flying in the same manner and maneuvering just the same as the one previously reported by the Japanese Airlines flight. About 30 minutes later, Anchorage Control Tower relayed a message from the FAA, informing the pilot to contact them upon landing. The FAA wanted a full report on the UFO seen by the crew. The very next day, on January 31, another similar sighting occurred over Alaskan skies. Alaska Airline's Flight 53 reported enormous, disc-like objects flying near their aircraft. These UFOs, according to the pilot's report, were "tracking" Flight 53. The Control Tower operator related to the pilot that they did not show anything unusual on their radar. The pilot of Flight 53 was very concerned, stating that the UFO was moving at a mile/per/second, which would be about 3,600 m/p/h. The pilot also stated that the UFO had almost immediately disappeared after flying under Flight 53. Neither of the these two encounters were adequately explained by any conventional flying objects, or atmospheric anomalies, and remain a mystery. The reports requested never surfaced. In 2006 John Callahan gave his eye-witness testimony about his official investigation into the Japanese Airline Incident: So what can we make out of these sightings made by credible witnesses including air force pilots, flight engineers, experienced pilots, air traffic controllers and aviation investigators? It is obvious that something was witnessed, independently verified over the course of three separate encounters by both aircraft and ground crews – but what was it? And more importantly – why was it seemingly tracking and observing these three aircraft? Is it the occupants on the aircraft that held interest? Or the cargo they were carrying?

The UFO Incident with Japan Airlines 1628

Unsolved Mysteries of the World 

Please visit our show sponsor the Sip &amp; Shine Podcast - www.sipandshinepodcast.com The Haunted Dumas Brothel, Butte Montana In 1888 French Canadian brothers Joseph and Arthur Nadeau invested in developing a large brick hotel on Butte Montana's East Mercury St. – the booming mining town's entertainment district. The investment would pay off as the hotel was a glamorous front for housing women of ill repute. In the 1870's ladies would sell sexual services on the main thoroughfare through town and eventually would erect tents and false front buildings to ply there trade. As Butte grew, so did other businesses and eventually the ladies of Park Street, as they have become known, transferred their work to the south side of town. Butte was notoriously dangerously wild and gambling houses, saloons and brothels sprung up to serve the thousands of miners working nearly 18 hours a day in the copper, silver and gold mines. The Dumas Brother's purchased a plot of land on one of the busiest streets that entertained the miners, but their goal was to attract not only the hard working miners, but also the bourgeoisie of Butte and so a red brick hotel, with all modern fixings was erected on East Galena Street, among the hundreds of other Brothel's that made up what locals called “The Twilight Zone” Joseph Dumas named the business after his wife, Delia Dumas and registered the hotel with city officials as The Dumas Hotel. And with a wink, the hotel madam, Delia Dumas, was noted as madam. The following month they purchased hand made furniture and fixings for the hotel. The Dumas' frequented other dancing halls in the Montana territory and brought in a number of working girls. In 1890, the Dumas Brothel, err umm, hotel, was officially opened for business. The opening night was a success and guests marvelled at the grand design and architecture noting its two story level, with large skylights and wooden spiral staircase. Drinks flowed freely and music played as guests were entertained by a number of high-class and unique looking ladies including one black prostitute who, at the time, was a rarity in Montana. The Dumas Hotel was connected to other businesses via underground tunnels so that high-end clientele, such as city officials, lawyers, reverends and those about to commit adultery (a crime punishable for up to 2 years in prison) could visit the high-end brothel without notice. But the hand carved furniture, the amazing architecture and well-paying clients could not hide the fact that the hotel held much misery. The girls, often as young as 15, would work in shifts serving sexual favors of all deviant kinds to dirty miners and sadistic city officials alike. The average pay for the girls was less than a living wage, and part of their pay was room and board. Many girls did not have enough for a stage coach or train ride out of town, if they wanted to leave. They were, once in the business, trapped. Drug and alcohol addiction was prevalent as was disease. Girls would works hours upon hours turning tricks every eight minutes. They would finish with one, wash their privates in the low hanging sinks in the room and invite another guest in – hour after hour. Pregnancy was also an issue, as no, or very little birth control would have been used. Girls that did discovery they were pregnant were ordered to have an abortion with the procedure usually performed by another experienced prostitute or madam. The cruel and unusual methods of abortion usually resulted in a lot of harm done to the mother, not only physically, but mentally as well. The unborn babies were dumped into shallow graves or mining pits just outside of town. Due to the barbaric procedures, many women who became pregnant bled out and died days later. In these working conditions it is no doubt that many suicides also took place as the women felt it was their only escape. It is not known what happened to the Dumas brothers, but it appears they sold the venture to another owner ten years later or perhaps they were simply silent partners. Some speculate they were ran out of town by other brothel owners, including one that would later be a State Senator. In 1900, the Dumas Hotel was ran by Madam Grace McGinnis who had a servant and four full-time prostitutes occupying the cribs or rooms in the hotel. Other prostitutes could rent out rooms on a as-needed basis. The cost for a deluxe poke was 0.50 with the prostitute making a mere .20 as the Madam would take the majority of the money. In today's money, that is about $7 for the working girl. As the mining operations increased and as patrons were typically miners this low fare was attractive and the Dumas Hotel needed to expand to accommodate its clientele. The basement, that was used mainly for storage was now retrofitted with a number of small cribs or rooms. In these rooms were the lower-priced girls, those less desirable, and those that would take abuse from the men that frequented the establishment. The Dumas basically had a class system, with the lower class in the basement, the and the high-end girls working high-class men on the upper floor. The low-end offering were popular by the low paid miners and in 1912 the Dumas was expanded again to serve this vary clientele. A back addition was added that would allow easy passage from what was known as Venus Alley, were street prostitutes offered sexual services. The main floor that was a large parlour was divided up into cribs to serve middle-class men. Again, the Dumas invited these working girls to use the new addition, the basement and the ease of access to attract and serve clients. The Dumas's business and those like it were criticized by a number of people who sought to reform the red light district. Reverend William Biederwolf condemned Butte as "the lowest sinkhole of vice in the west," and that he saw "enough legitimate vice in Butte to damn the souls of every young man and young woman in it." Biederwolf held revival services for residents which attracted "rounders, gamblers and habitués of the red light district". However, the local business benefited and even depended on the support of the sex workers at the Dumas and other establishments like it. The prostitutes would buy their dresses at local clothiers, frequent the city's dry cleaners and would patronize Chinese herbalists, looking for birth control potions and venereal disease remedies. To ensure that their operations were unhampered, the girls at the Dumas would pay the city's police and governance five dollar "fines". Instead of the closing or relocating the red light district, the mayor and police of Butte ordered that the women wear longer skirts and high-necked blouses and that they "refrain from any indecent exposures." After these ordinances were put in place, the Butte Miner reported that "nothing was seen in the district except long dresses and long faces. What the women say about the matter is not fit for publication." By 1910 the people were petitioning Mayor Charles Nevin to shut down the district; with the district contributing two thousand dollars to the city's coffers every month, the efforts eventually died. Many of the city officials, including mayors, police chiefs and law makers were also clients. World War I and the Prohibition impelled local lawmakers to initiate a crackdown on Butte's red light district and by 1917 the district was effectively closed. Signs saying "Men Under 21 Keep Out" were commonplace and in the next census, prostitution had completely disappeared as a declared profession in Butte. The Dumas, however, remained in operation. In 1925 Anne Vallet began overseeing the Dumas for the Nadeau family, and in the 1930s, operations had passed to Madam Rose Davis. In 1940 Lillian Walden and her husband Dick began running the brothel,raising the price of sex at the brothel to $2. Federal law makers ordered all brothels shut down during WW2 to help prevent death and disease to young soldiers about to fight. The Dumas remained opened, however, changing its business listing as a boarding house. Two large steel doors were added with a sliding peep hole so that no one would gain entry without being identified first. It was now a semi-private club. In the 1950s rates went up to a staggering $5 with a series of madams in charge. The Nadeau Brothers finally sold the operation at this time and Elinore Knott became owner and Madam. But her time at the Dumas was short. Her husband had died of a heart attack and with a history of depression, she overdosed on a host of drugs and committed suicide in the basement leaving the Dumas vacant. Police at the time took this as an easy way of finally shutting down the business and they worked on raiding The Windsor, Hotel Victoria and the Dumas. Girls would be fined and Madams and owners jailed. The raids were irrelevant as girls were tipped off by police and payoffs were made. It was all theatre and a way to put a little more money into corrupt officials hands. Ruby Garret, a local resident of Butte for some thirty years, had purchased the Dumas. Ruby was not only a local celebrity, but she was known federally as well. In 1959, she walked into a Butte Bar with a handgun, pointed it at her husband and shot him five times as he gambled killing him instantly. But those in attendance did not who was pulling the trigger, as Ruby was so badly beaten by her common law husband they could not recognize her. Garrett faced a first-degree murder charge but the jury convicted her of manslaughter. She was sentenced to four years, but served only nine months. Yet people familiar with the case say Garrett was the victim of severe spousal abuse and that pent-up frustration had reached a boiling point.Garret would pay local police officers and officials $200 to $300 a month in return for their silence about the Dumas's activities. Under Garrett, the cost of a prostitute was $20 but she would come upon financial difficulties and had not paid taxes in several years. She was charged with tax evasion in 1981 and in 1982 the Dumas Brothel was finally closed. In 1982 Ruby Garrett, the last madam of the Dumas, was convicted of federal tax evasion and served six months in prison. The brothel was closed soon after, but not before a robbery took place there. When it closed, it was the longest operating brothel in the United States, having operated for 92 years, long after prostitution was outlawed.The Dumas was then sold to antique dealers and then to a couple who wanted to open a museum. The museum opened but the owners were operating it with great difficulties having using the premises as a hoarding operation. Stories about the Dumas Brothel began circulating as these owners heard disembodied voices, saw furniture move on its own accord, felt cold spots and apparitions throughout the three floors. Soon paranormal celebrities and ghost hunters started flocking to the derelict building.During the years that followed, many visitors to the museum also witnessed paranormal activity, from cold spots to hearing ghostly voices from the cribs. The previous owners had, like previous operators failed to pay taxes on the property and city officials were demanding payment. One of the owners had a criminal past involving drugs and was clearly suffering from mental health issues and drug abuse or a combination of both. On the Ghost Adventure show this particular individual was noted by viewers tweeking out on drugs, but of course, Zak Baggans does not acknowledge this – but instead blames the ghosts for these strange interactions. Sadly, Michael Piche died in 2018 leaving his business partner to hand over the building to city officials who put the building and its contents up for auction. You can visit the Historic Dumas Brothel in Butte Montana both day and night and take an indepth tour with the new owners who are currently cleaning up, repairing and maintaining the building. And it appears it is in good hands as they are focusing in on making the building historically accurate. On our tour in the upstairs left bedroom I heard a distinctive female voice say “Can I help you?” There is a great deal of emotion, sadness, contempt, and wonder one feels when walking through these old hallways and peering into the cribs. It was both exciting and horrifying for those who once lived and visited the Dumas Brothel and clearly, both those emotions are felt by visitors today. The Museum is located at 45 E Mercury St. In Butte, Montana and tours are available for those interested in the historical or paranormal aspect of the old building. Tours range from $5 to $10 and last between 45 minutes to over and hour. Because the Dumas Brother has changed hands much of the contact information, web sites and social media pages are outdated and have been abandoned. Please use the current information below to retrieve information and schedule tours. Website: <a href="http://www.dumas-brothel.com/" target="_blank">www.dumas-brothel.com</a>Phone: 1-406-351-9922

The Historic & Haunted Dumas Brothel in Butte, Montana

Historic houses are a common sight in the English county of Dorset. One in&nbsp;particular situated near the picturesque town of Dorchester is among the best preserved medieval houses in all of England, and reportedly the most haunted. House is a perfect example of an English manor house built in the early Tudor architectural style. Its construction was begun by Sir William Martyn in 1485. Pieces of the original medieval furniture can still be seen in the interior today - Elizabethan carved panels, ornate ceilings, and impressive artwork decorate the rooms, as in Tudor times. In 1891, Alfred Cart de Lafontaine purchased and restored the manor house. However, he is most remembered for creating the beautiful gardens around the house, influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement of the time. Throughout the years the house has had many hands and in 1957 the manor house was purchased by Robert Victor Cooke and today it is in the ownership of his grandson. Athelhampton House was said to be haunted as far back as the 1850s and is considered among the most haunted houses in England. People have reported seeing a ghost of a woman nicknamed the Grey Lady, a dark silhouette of what is believed to be the ghost of a monk, and the most famous ghost: a pet ape. There are dozens of reported sightings of each of these ghosts as well as many other strange phenomenon. One report that stands out at this location is the pair of duelists in the Great Chamber. One day a woman was trying to relax and read a book in the Great Hall when two unknown men burst into the chamber in the middle of a sword fight. The woman continually pulled on the bell rope for the servants but nobody arrived. She turned to her side and carried on reading while the fight continued until one of the men were cut on the arm and left the room. Later that day the woman reported the incident to the owner and he replied puzzled at the whole thing. He stated, “I can’t understand who the men were you had seen, as all the guests of the hotel were here at tea, so you would have seen them”. Still to this day the two men have never been identified, although the house is believed to have had connections to the Royalists during the Civil War. The wine cellar adjoins the Great Hall and is said to experience tapping from a ghost known as ‘Cooper’. There is not much known about this particular entity or why Cooper is haunting this particular location. Various owners, staff and guests of Athelhampton House have all seen what can only be described as a Grey Lady. The current owner of Athelhampton Mr Robert Cooke, has reported seeing her in the early hours passing through the walls in the bedrooms. A dark apparition that looked like a monk was seen by one of the housemaids in broad daylight. The woman became aware of footsteps behind her in one of the corridors. She quickly turned to see the monk standing outside the bathroom door. It is believed that this person was the Catholic priest to the Martyn family. Other witnesses have seen this monk-like apparition on the property and in the garden. But the most talked about ghost of this old manor is that of the pet ape that is said to have been entombed, accidentally within the walls of the building. Today, witnesses claim to hear the pet ape scratching and clawing his way to try to escape. But headlines in the Sunday papers have runaway with the story. One of the Sun's headlines reads: The ghost of a masturbating ape haunts the hallways of a grand country estate in Dorset The article continues to say The ghost of a randy monkey haunts the halls of a grand English country estate – where romantic spook-hunters flock to tie the knot. Titillated tourists can often hear the saucy spectre laughing while masturbating in Athelhampton Hall in Dorset, near Dorchester. One tourist, dad-of-three John Morrison, 41 from Derby, who took his entire family to the estate, spoke excitedly about the spanking spook He said "We heard that Martyn the monkey who haunts the house loves to scratch his privates while swinging around."We didn't see him, which is a shame, because it would have been a real sight."Apparently he's not terrifying - quite friendly is what we heard. According to the local legend, the unconventional Martyn family did have a pet ape which was free to wander the halls.And when one of the Martyn daughters had an unhappy love affair and decided to kill herself, the compassionate monkey began following her around. When she climbed a set of hidden stairs to a secret room, the ape trailed behind, and watched as she took her own life with the door bolted.By the time the family's search of the house and grounds eventually located the room, the ape had starved to death next to her body.Now its ghost haunts the hall, often scratching at the panelling of the secret room and staircase in an eternal, frantic attempt to escape. Athelhampton reputation as a haunted house date back centuries and the curious have ventured into the house to seek the spirits there. In 2002, the show Most Haunted featured the manor in one of their earliest investigations – their first season and their first taped episode. This was at a time when there was less drama, less screaming and less fakery. But keep in mind as you listen that Darek Acorah, the supposed psychic, is in this episode grunting like a great ape. To our relief he does not masturbate.

Haunted Athelhampton House

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Hi, and welcome to Unsolved Mysteries of the World where we explore the unexplained. Our topics include Missing Persons, Unsolved Murders, UFO &amp; Aerial Phenomenon, Ghosts &amp; Hauntings, Legends &amp; Myths, Lost Treasures, Cryptozoology, Urban Legends, Conspiracies, Ancient Archaeological Anomalies and much more. If this is your first time listening to us, and you like our show, remember to subscribe when you get a chance. Each episode we will dive into a topic or case with a descriptive narrative and include special guest interviews where possible.

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