Some crimes are so heartbreaking or shocking that they change laws, change society, or even

earn the label, Crime of the Century.

But the stories that made headlines in decades past aren't necessarily remembered today.

I'm Amber Hunt, a journalist, an author, and in each episode of this show,

I'll examine a case that's maybe lesser known today, but was huge when it happened.

This is Crimes of the Centuries.

Thank you. This is Crimes of the Centuries. You have to be a special kind of famous for a semi-obscure satirical punk rock band to make a song about you.

The Dead Milkman, a Philadelphia phenom since their first record in 1985,

released the catchy Marianne Cotton, The Poisoners Song, in 2012.

Sung by Joe Jack Talcom, the song was included on the band's 2014 album, Pretty Music for Pretty People. And if you're not familiar with the Milkman, you should know that they're the kind of band that once wrote a song called

Punk Rock Girl that became an MTV hit in 1988, and another called Bitch and Camaro.

That's exactly what you think it is.

They've been skewering American culture since the Reagan era,

taking aim at everything from pretentious hipsters to intellectual posturing

to the absurdities of modern life.

I said they were satirical.

That was their choice. They were of the

opinion that punk rock had gotten too serious. So when they decided to write about a Victorian-era

serial killer, you know they weren't going to make it your typical true crime ballad.

I'll give you a snippet of the lyrics so you can see what I mean.

Mary Ann Cotton was hanged from the gallows, and on her grave a strict nine plant grows, and

Mary's footsteps others will follow, for there's no end what the public will swallow.

...