The Black Widow of Idaho Pt. 1
Serial Killers & Murderous Minds
Crime House
4.5 • 713 Ratings
🗓️ 23 February 2026
⏱️ 73 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of Serial Killers and Murderous Minds, Vanessa Richardson and forensic psychologist Dr. Tristin Engels are joined by Sarah Turney and Kourtney Nichole from Crime House's new show, The Final Hours. They explore the early life of Lyda Southard, a woman trapped by poverty, rigid gender roles, and rural isolation in the early 20th century. What begins as a story of a young woman longing for independence quickly turns sinister as Lyda discovers a deadly path to freedom. Through a chilling pattern of illness, arsenic poisoning, and life insurance payouts, the episode traces Lyda’s first murders and the psychological motivations behind her calculated cruelty—setting the foundation for one of America’s most disturbing female serial killer cases.
Listen to and follow The Final Hours with Sarah Turney and Kourtney Nichole wherever you listen to podcasts: https://play.megaphone.fm/zl8pwmgtteoqb01h_o7oww
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, it's Vanessa. |
| 0:02.0 | If you're drawn to true crime stories about disappearances, there's a new crime house original you should check out. |
| 0:08.0 | It's called The Final Hours, hosted by Sarah Turney and Courtney Nicole. |
| 0:13.0 | Sarah's an advocate for missing and murdered victims whose own sister disappeared in 2001. |
| 0:19.0 | And Courtney is a true crime storyteller who's seen firsthand how |
| 0:23.0 | crime can change a family forever. |
| 0:26.0 | Together they bring lived experience to every case, examining the moments just before a person |
| 0:31.0 | disappears, the routines, the timelines, the small details that often get overlooked, because |
| 0:37.0 | every disappearance has a moment where everything still feels normal until it doesn't. |
| 0:43.0 | Listen to and follow the final hours on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 0:50.3 | New episodes drop every Monday. |
| 1:04.1 | Thank you. new episodes drop every Monday. This is Crime House. |
| 1:06.8 | No one likes to feel trapped, whether it's a job you can't afford to leave, a bad living situation, or a relationship on its last legs. |
| 1:16.6 | And in the early 20th century, it wasn't as easy for people to escape unwanted circumstances, especially women in rural areas. |
| 1:24.6 | Between the isolation and the poverty, these women had limited options. |
| 1:32.0 | But Lida Southerd found a way out. Lida had spent her whole life living on a farm. The work was |
| 1:39.9 | backbreaking and never ending, until one day she broke free. The only problem was that |
| 1:47.0 | Lyda's freedom meant death for others. |
| 2:19.2 | Thank you. The human mind is powerful. It shapes how we think, feel, love, and hate. But sometimes it drives people to commit the unthinkable. This is serial killers and murderous minds, a crimehouse original. I'm Vanessa Richardson. And I'm forensic psychologist Dr. Tristan Ingalls. Every Monday |
| 2:25.1 | and Thursday, we uncover the darkest minds in history, analyzing what makes a killer. |
| 2:30.1 | Crime House is made possible by you. Please rate, review, and follow serial killers and murderous minds. |
| 2:37.1 | To enhance your listening experience with ad-free early access to each two-part series and bonus content, |
... |
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