414: The Martha Wise Murders w/ Rod Kackley

Most Notorious! A True Crime History Podcast

Erik Rivenes

True Crime, History, Education

4.7 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 21 November 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the winter of 1924-1925, quiet Medina County, Ohio, was shaken to its core. Martha Wise, an ordinary farm widow with an extraordinary obsession, slipped arsenic into her family’s food and water. Three of her relatives were dead, dozens more gravely ill, and a rural community was gripped by fear. What followed was a murder investigation and trial unlike anything the Midwest had ever seen. Was Martha a cold-blooded killer, or (as she later claimed) a woman under the spell of the Devil himself? I'm joined in this latest episode of Most Notorious by Rod Kackley. He is the author of "The Murders of Martha Wise: A Shocking True Crime Story". The author's website: https://www.rodkackley.com/ Our interview about the murder of Thora Chamberlain on the Most Notorious website: https://www.mostnotorious.com/2022/05/14/the-murder-of-thora-chamberlain-w-rod-kackley/ and the Disappearance of Molly Zelko: https://www.mostnotorious.com/2025/03/22/the-mysterious-disappearance-of-molly-zelko-w-rod-kackley/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:25.9	business.gov.com.ukes. Eligibility criteria apply. Hello all and welcome to another episode of the Most Notorious podcast.
1:00.4	Well, I am so glad to speak to Rod Cackley once again.
1:06.0	He has been on the show twice before.
1:08.3	His first visit was in May of 2022 to talk about the 1945 murder of
1:13.9	Thorough Chamberlain, episode 243. And he then returned this past March to share the story of
1:21.9	reporter Molly Zelko in episode 383. And now he's back with his latest book.
1:30.7	It is called The Murders of Martha Wise, a shocking true crime story.
1:36.4	Thanks for coming back on.
1:37.7	Great to have you on the podcast again.
1:40.6	Hey, thanks, Erica.
1:41.5	Thanks for having me again.
1:42.8	By the way, on the Thorough Chamberlain book,
1:45.3	we're recording this on November 2nd. It was 80 years ago today, but she disappeared.
1:52.7	Oh, wow. Wow. Is there anything planned to recognize the anniversary?
1:58.5	I put a blog post up and sent an email out just to say, hey, remember when.
2:03.8	But, you know, pretty much that's it.
2:07.1	Yeah.
2:07.9	So how did you first stumble onto Martha Wise's story?
	...

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