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Foul Play: A Historical True Crime Podcast

New York: Hazel Drew Murder Mysteries

Foul Play: A Historical True Crime Podcast

Shane L. Waters, Wendy Cee, Gemma Hoskins

History, True Crime, Society & Culture

4.5992 Ratings

🗓️ 14 September 2022

⏱️ 9 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

More than a century ago, the body of 20 year old Hazel Drew was found floating in Teal's Pond near the bottom of Taborton Mountain in Sand Lake, New York. An autopsy found that she'd died of blunt head trauma to the back of her head prior to ending up in the pond. Her death was labeled a murder. In the weeks that followed the discovery of her body, many suspects were investigated including among others: her recently widowed, and suicidal, uncle William Taylor who lived nearby; a simple-minded 17 year old farm hand named Frank Smith, who fancied Hazel and his friend Rudolph Gunderman, a charcoal peddler, the two of whom had seen her along Taborton Road, near the pond, shortly before she died; and a pair of unknown men seen by a couple driving by, about the time the murder was supposed to have taken place, at the scene - one waiting in a horse drawn runabout, and the other beating around in the bushes near the pond, as if looking for something! What made Hazel's murder all the more mysterious, was that only a few days prior to it, she'd suddenly, and unexpectedly left her job as a domestic at the home of Professor E.R. Cary in Troy, and nobody knew what her intentions were. Also her luggage had been left - checked at the train station. In the end, all the leads the investigators had ran out. Nobody was ever arrested or charged with the murder, and to this day - Hazel Drew's murder remains unsolved! Find us ⁠⁠online.⁠⁠ Support the show by joining our Black Label to support the show and unlock exclusive benefits. You can join on ⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Apple Podcast Premium⁠⁠. Follow us on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠, ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠. Join ⁠⁠Shane's Facebook Group⁠⁠. Hosted by ⁠⁠Shane Waters⁠⁠. Listen to his other crime podcast ⁠⁠Mystery Inc⁠⁠, or his history podcast ⁠⁠Hometown History⁠⁠! Our Sponsors: * Check out Kensington Publishing: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com * Check out Mood and use my code SHANE for a great deal: https://mood.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:07.0

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0:14.0

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0:21.0

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0:28.0

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0:53.0

The murder of Hazel Drew was one of the most baffling cases

0:57.0

in San Lake, had ever seen.

1:00.0

No one could understand why a person would kill such a friendly and caring young woman.

1:05.0

Even with all of these secrets about Hazel's personal life,

1:09.0

it didn't make much sense to people why she would be murdered.

1:14.0

Within this episode, we'll look at the days before and after her murder.

1:20.0

An hour before midnight, local dressmaker Miss Shoemaker heard a banging on her door.

1:27.0

Her shop had closed hours before this guest arrived.

1:31.0

She wasn't expecting anyone.

1:34.0

Hazel Drew was standing on the front steps when she opened the door with fabric in hand.

1:40.0

Hazel begged Miss Shoemaker to make her a blouse for her upcoming weekend to Lake George.

1:46.0

It was not only late, but also right before the July 4th weekend,

1:52.0

Miss Shoemaker agreed to make Hazel her new blouse.

1:56.0

While it seemed everything was coming together for Hazel,

2:00.0

the request made to Miss Shoemaker would be the first of many bizarre occurrences

2:05.0

that would lead to the death of Hazel Drew.

2:12.0

On the morning of Hazel's trip to Lake George,

...

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