William A Doxtator was born 1936 in Fond du Lac, and bounced around between Hilbert, Oshkosh and Menasha 1955, graduated from Hilbert High School. He went to work at the Fred Rueping Leather Company in Fond du Lac. August 12, 1958, he was pulled over for speeding in Kaukauna. He was pulled over again two […]
Wayne Pratt suspect: William Doxtator Read More »
Terry Lloyd Caspersen was born in Minnesota, possibly Duluth. His family seemed to move back and forth between there and Wausau, Wisconsin. In early 1963, Caspersen was at the Winnebago State Hospital to undergo mental health testing after a suicide attempt. He was released after 10 weeks. While out in June 1963, he was arrested
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This story was brought to my attention by a listener named Toby. Unfortunately, the Chilton newspaper is not online anywhere to my knowledge and I have not had the opportunity to view the microfilm. However, someone transcribed the two key obituaries and put them online. That forms the core of this story, and I’ve fleshed
Ephraim Granger of Chilton Read More »
Father Theophilus Riesinger’s story is not well known in Appleton today, and seems to have not been very well known in the area even in his lifetime. The first thorough look at him from local sources is from Post-Crescent writer Maija Penikis on March 4, 1973, more than 30 years after his passing. But now,
Father Theophilus, Appleton Exorcist Read More »
Note: There does not appear to be consistency in the name Ostram. This is the spelling in all news accounts, as well as prison and parole records. However, some other records use Ostran (with an N) and this is the spelling used on headstones – very much a permanent record. I have decided to use
Baby-Slayer Blanche Ostram Read More »
On the morning of September 14, 1972, around 11:06am, owner Mrs. Anna Diedrich called police to check on guests at the Kaukauna Motel on route 4 (Highway OO). They were supposed to have checked out the day before but had not been answering knocks at the door. Lieutenant Dean J. Ball discovered a woman dead
Camille Quinn and the Kaukauna Motel Read More »
The story of the “Wisconsin Death March” has no business being on the Fox Cities Murder and Mayhem podcast. However, the story is so important and almost completely unknown – I have no better platform to present this dark period of state history. The 1848 annuity payment, called a “swindle” by newspaper reporters, was the
Wisconsin Death March Read More »
(This page consists of podcast notes and is not intended to be a fully fleshed-out article.) Ervin Herbert Koehnke was born November 1, 1890 in Appleton to Henry and Sadie (Krohn) Koehnke. July 8, 1918, was sent to the barracks at Columbus, Ohio for training, with the plan to be in France after. He does
Koehnke’s Woods — Grand Chute, Wisconsin Read More »
Born in Germany, Albert E. Schwittay emigrated with his parents to the United States and settled in Marinette County, Wisconsin. Schwittay worked in the lumber business and was a farmer. He went to University of Wisconsin Law School, received his law degree in 1901, and practiced law in Marinette. Schwittay also started a weekly newspaper,
For quite a while, the Peshtigo fire didn’t even cross my mind as an option for a podcast topic. I figured, everyone in northeast Wisconsin knows about it. And it’s always told the same way – it occurred the same day as the Chicago fire, so it was overshadowed, despite being the deadliest fire in
