New York: Probing Hazel Drew's Death

Foul Play: A Historical True Crime Podcast

Shane L. Waters, Wendy Cee, Gemma Hoskins

History, True Crime, Society & Culture

4.5 • 992 Ratings

🗓️ 7 September 2022

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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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	.
0:07.0	.
0:14.0	.
0:21.0	.
0:28.0	.
0:54.0	We all show ourselves differently to different people in our lives, which is entirely normal.
1:01.0	Looking back more than 100 years at Hazel's life, we must be careful where we place judgment.
1:09.0	So with that being said, here's what we know and what we think we know.
1:14.0	After Hazel's tragic death on July 7, 1908, detectives began investigating.
1:22.0	This investigation would lead to some secrets that Hazel certainly would not have wanted the public to know about.
1:29.0	The detective's first action plan was to talk to Hazel's family.
1:34.0	When talking to the family, they were led to believe that she was a tranquil girl who never really did much.
1:41.0	They also told them that Hazel never really dated or had been in any relationships.
1:48.0	But once they started to dig deeper, that detail would change.
1:53.0	They began to realize that Hazel drew lived a double life.
1:58.0	There was a time in young Hazel's life when she fell ill with some mysterious illness.
2:04.0	Hazel was only 19 years old at the time.
2:08.0	While Hazel was sick during the winter of 1907 to 1908, she would stay at her uncle's farm on to Borden Mountain, with her brother and uncle William.
2:18.0	During this illness, she would remain bedridden for almost a month, all being cared for by her sister-in-law Iva.
2:27.0	Detective suspected that Hazel's mysterious illness was in fact an abortion.
2:34.0	She corresponded with two women during her illness, Mina and Margaret.
2:39.0	The two women would send letters back and forth.
	...

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