Episode 181 The Crimes of Winona Spriggs

Southern Mysteries Podcast

Shannon Ballard

True Crime, Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 22 December 2025

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the summer of 1924, a railroad worker was found dead near tracks in Little Rock. Weeks later, his wife was found dead in another state. What followed was a series of headlines that pointed to one woman—Winona Spriggs. Her name would appear again and again over the next fifty years, linked to crime, escape, and murder. This is the story of a family broken, and of the woman who never stopped running. Join the Community on Patreon Want more Southern Mysteries? You can hear the Southern Mysteries show archive of 60+ episodes along with Patron exclusive podcast, Audacious: Tales of American Crime and more when you become a patron of the show. You can immediately access exclusive content now at patreon.com/southernmysteries 🎧 Explore More Southern Mysteries Visit SouthernMysteries.com for more episodes and source lists. 📱 Follow on Social Media: Facebook: Southern Mysteries PodcastInstagram: @southernmysteriesEmail: southernmysteriespodcast@gmail.com Episode Sources Arkansas Gazette (Little Rock, AR), 1924–1974 Arkansas Democrat (Little Rock, AR), 1924–1954 The Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK), 1924–1954 Tulsa Tribune (Tulsa, OK), 1924–1948 Miami News-Record (Miami, OK), August 1946 The Salinas Californian (Salinas, CA), 1953–1954 The San Bernardino Sun (San Bernardino, CA), October–November 1974 The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA), March 16, 1954 Associated Press (AP) wire reports, 1924–1954 Pulaski County Circuit Court records (Arkansas) Oklahoma criminal investigation records (Miami, OK) California Superior Court records (Salinas, CA), 1954 Arkansas State Penitentiary records and parole files Oklahoma Department of Corrections records California Department of Corrections records U.S. Census records (1910, 1920, 1930, 1940) Marriage and divorce records for Winona Spriggs / Winona Green / Winnie Ola Freeman Death records for J.R. Green, Lena Green, Robert Sheldon Wilkinson, Harold Jonassen, and Winnie Ola Freeman Library of Congress, Chronicling America newspaper archive Newspapers.com archival database Ancestry.com historical records Unknown Misandry blog: “Winnie Ola Freeman (Winona Green): The Cat Woman” (2014) Episode Music Out of the Mines, courtesy of Ross Gentry, Asheville, North Carolina.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there, I'm Shannon Ballard, creator and host of Southern Mysteries. This is an independent
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2:01.7	Music new episode. In the summer of 1924, a railroad worker was found dead near the tracks in Little Rock, Arkansas.
2:08.2	Within weeks, another member of the same family was found dead in another state.
	...

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