This is an

an adult content and language. This story contains adult content and language.

Listener discretion is advised.

This is an elimination homicide. Bessie, whether it be the extortion schemes or something else she was involved with,

wanted her gone and they wanted her gone quickly and they didn't want her to be found.

I'm Kate Winkler Dawson, a non-fiction author and journalism professor in Austin, Texas.

I'm also the host of the historical True Crime Podcast. and journalism professor in Austin, Texas.

I'm also the host of the historical True Crime Podcast,

Tenfold More Wicked on Exactly Right.

I've traveled around the world interviewing people for the show.

I've interviewed some people in person and some from my home studio over

Zoom and they are all excellent writers. They've had so many great true crime stories

and now we want to tell you those stories with details that have never been published.

Wicked Words is about the choices that writers make good and bad.

It's a deep dive into the stories behind the stories.

My name is into the stories behind the stories.

My name is Paul Holtz. I'm a retired cold case investigator out of Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office, which is in the Bay Area, California. You know, over the course of my career,

I consulted for a wide variety of agencies in the Bay Area,

not just within Contra Costa County,

but in the surrounding region.

My wheelhouse was cold cases. However, I also was pulled into

active cases if they needed somebody who had a different type of expertise

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