Cordelia Botkin / Legends of the Swamp….and Catman…Again

Good ol’ Delaware are you ready for a Killer Hangover? Beth covers the true crime this time! It’s been awhile, and she’s missed it! She chooses an oldie, but a goody to share this week… a true story of Death by Chocolate. It was the first murder by mail and much much more! Cordelia Botkin was something else!

Bettina shares the paranormal stories this time. Legends of Great Cypress Swamp and (with great excitement) the hauntings of CatMan in Long Cemetery! Sound familiar? Yes, Yes, Beth covered it before … but why not revisit Mr. CatMan?!

Cheers!!

It was the first time the U.S Postal service was used to commit murder, murder by chocolate. Beth takes us back to the years 1895 when 41 year old Cordelia Botkin met 32 year old John Dunning, a reporter for the Associated Press. It was love at first sight, even though both were married. Their affair lasted several years until John ended it and that’s when Cordelia showed her true colors. You know the saying, “Hell has no fury like a woman spurned”? Well that was Cordelia Botkin. Listen as Beth shares with us the true evil lying within this woman and the extreme measure she took to try to “get her man” back.

Three legends from the state of Delaware, two of which are a tie in to this week’s cocktail, Swamp Water. Bettina covers a Witch Tree, the Shelbyville Swamp Monster and a nonintentional revisit of CatMan. Something that all of these seem to have in common is the stalling of one’s car if visiting the area of these legends. Could it be a supernatural force stopping the cars from starting? Or, is it the hast of people in fear causing the cars to stall? You decide.

COCKTAIL: SWAMP WATER Recipe:

People described Cordelia as stocky, stout and frumpy, but that was not how Cordelia would describe herself. She found herself to be beautiful and very desirable to men. Photo source:

John Dunning, a reporter for the Associated Press, found himself madly in love with Cordelia. Photo source:

Cordelia was convicted of the murders of John’s wife, Mary Elizabeth Dunning and Mary Elizabeth’s sister, Ida Deane. The murder weapon, a box of arsenic laced chocolates. Cordelia was sentenced to life in prison. Photo source:

The Witch Tree was located within the Great Cypress Swamp near the southern Delaware border. Today all that remains of the old Chestnut Oak is a stump, but unusual lights and phenomena are still seen and happening in this area. Photo source:

The Shelbyville Swamp Monster was a 1960’s hoax carried out by two friends, but then what about the odd sights and sounds heard in the swamp before and after the hoax ended? Photo source:

CatMan Cemetery. Legend has it that if you knock three times on the crumbling brick wall in the back of the cemetery you may not only see the spirit of CatMan but the spirit will have tampered with your car so that it will not start as you try to flee the area. Photo source:

EPISODE SOURCES:

https://heathermonroe.medium.com/the-heinous-crimes-of-cordelia-botkin-552d7d9e51d6