Morbid

Since the late nineteenth century, amusement parks have been providing countless hours of enjoyment for people all around the world. Often driven by the latest technology and advances in mechanical engineering, the thrill rides at parks like Disney Land, Great America, and other independent parks offer a controlled environment to experience terror and excitement.

While these rides, and the parks in general, are very safe and held to strict safety standards, there are times when the unthinkable happens—a cable snaps, a safety harness breaks—and the once safe ride becomes a nightmare for passengers. Far more often than not, tragic amusement park accidents are the result of human foolishness or, far less often, operator error. But other times, they are a bizarre fluke; a one in a million mechanical problem no one saw coming. Either way, the results can be shocking, horrifying, and even deadly.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

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References

Akst, Daniel. 1982. "Short circuit found in fatal amusement ride." The Record (Hackensack, NJ), August 5: 3.

Anaheim Bulletin. 1973. "D'land visitor drowning victim." Anaheim Bulletin, June 23: 1.

Associated Press. 1980. "Roller coaster death probed." Free Lance (Hollister, CA), April 3: 10.

—. 1998. "Disney visitor had no chance, surgeon says." Sacramento Bee, December 28: 4.

Brown, Lee. 1964. "2 youths tell story of fatal 'bobsled' ride." The Independent (Long Beach, CA), May 22: 17.

Daily News. 1983. "A ride to the courthouse." Daily News (New York, NY), July 3: 32.

Daily Record. 1982. "Electrical shock killed man on Action Park ride." Daily Record (Morristown, NJ), August 1: 2.

Fisher, Joseph. 1980. "Man who fell from alpine slide dies after several days in coma." Daily Record (Morristown, NJ), Juky 17: 1.

Futia, Michael, and John Mintz. 1982. "Death doesn't cut lines for thrill rides." The Record (Hackensack, NJ), August 2: 13.

Gaura, Maria. 1998. "Coaster victim's death witnessed by family." San Francisco Chronicle, September 11: 13.

Gaura, Maria, and Manny Fernandez. 1998. "Victim's kin mull suit against Great America." San Francisco Chronicle, Seoptember 9: 1.

Haefele, Marc. 1980. "Dangers cited by slide employees." Daily Record (Morristown, NJ), August 14: 19.

Hatfield, Larry. 1980. "Roller coaster crash caused by 'phantom'." San Francisco Examiner, May 1980: 3.

Hoover, Ken, and Sabin Russell. 1999. "Fall from ride kills boy at Great America." San Francisco Chronicle, August 23: 1.

Kiely, Eugene. 1987. "Prosecutor: Action Park drowning accidental." The Record (Hackensack NJ), July 21: 28.

Los Angeles Times. 1964. "Boy criticallt hurt on ride at Disneyland." Los Angeles Times, May 17: 3.

—. 1966. "He tried to join his friends." Los Angeles Times, June 19: 3.

—. 1964. "Inquest ruled out in fatal Disneyland fall." Los Angeles Times, May 27: 35.

Lyman, Julie, Kevin Fagan, and Bill Workman. 1999. "Questions linger in amusement park death." San Francisco Chronicle , November 6: 1.

Mulvihill, Andy. 2020. "Remembering Action Park, New Jersey's Deranged Theme Park, "Where You're the Center of the Accident"." Esquire, July 2.

Press-Telegram. 1964. "Boy badly hurt in tumble from Disney bobsled." Press-Telegram (Long Beach, CA), May 16: 13.

—. 1966. "Monorail victim crashing party?" Press-Telegram (Long Beach, CA), June 19: 4.

—. 1964. "Bobsled rider's death probed." Press-Telegram, May 20: 39.

Reckard, Scott, and Tracy Weber. 1998. "Autopsy sheds light on Disneyland fatality." Los Angeles Times, December 31: 31.

Soiffer, Bill. 1980. "Brakes suspected in coaster tragedy." San Francisco Chronicle, March 31: 3.

Stolztfus, Duane. 1984. "Water slide blamed for son's death." Daily Record (Morristown, NJ), August 28: 11.

Webber, Tracy. 1999. "Fatal accident at Disneyland in '98 still haunts family." Los Angeles Times, December 13: 110.

Yi, Daniel, and Robert Ourlian. 1998. "Man dies 2 days after being injured at Disneyland." Los Angeles Times, December 27: 76.

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)

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Today we are revisiting a tragic case of negligence which originally captivated us back in 2024. 

When Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium in 1898, the chemical element was quickly adopted by manufacturers for its luminescent properties that would go on to be used in, among other things, the painting of clock faces, watches, and instrument panels, allowing them to be seen in the dark. At the time, the introduction of radioluminescent materials into manufacturing was hailed as a scientific solution to an age-old frustration, but it didn’t take long before that solution was shown to have terrible consequences.

As a radioactive element, radium is highly toxic to humans, particularly when ingested or inhaled. While it seemed unlikely that anyone would ingest or inhale the radium used to paint a clockface, this fact posed a serious problem for the largely female factory workers whose job it was to paint the dials. These “Radium Girls,” as they would come to be known, not only spent most of their day in close proximity to the paint, but also employed a technique in which they frequently wet their paintbrushes with their mouths, consuming small amounts of radium in the process.

Throughout the first half of the twentieth century, hundreds of young women working in at least three radium dial factories in the United States suffered deadly radiation poisoning as a result of working so closely with radium, all without any safety protocols and completely unaware of the dangers. After dozens of deaths, a group of factory workers successfully sued their employers for damages, exposing the widespread disregard for worker safety. While the suits were generally a major victory for the American labor movement, it was ultimately hard-won and little comfort to those who would die within a few years.

References

Camden Courier-Post. 1928. "Woman radium victim offers living body to aid in search for cure." Courier-Post, May 29: 1.

eGov Newswire. 2021. "Menedez leads colleagues in introducing senate resolution to honor the lives and legacy of the 'Radium Girls'." eGov Newswire, June 26.

Evening Courier. 1927. "Radium poison victims want damage suit limits raised." Evening Courier, July 19: 2.

Galant, Debbie. 1996. "Living with a radium nightmare." New York Times, September 29: NJ1.

Lang, Daniel. 1959. "A most valuable accident." New Yorker, April 24: 49.

McAndrew, Tara McClellan. 2018. The Radium Girls: An Illinois Tragedy. January 25. Accessed July 8, 2024. https://www.nprillinois.org/equity-justice/2018-01-25/the-radium-girls-an-illinois-tragedy.

Moore, Kate. 2017. The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women. New York, NY: Sourcebooks.

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. n.d. Radium Girls: The Story of US Radium’s Superfund Site. Environmental Preservation Snapshot, Orange, NJ: New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection.

New York Times. 1928. "Finds no bar to suit by radium victims." New York Times, May 23: 11.

Prisco, Jacopo. 2017. "Radium Girls: The dark times of luminous watches." CNN, December 19.

United Press. 1928. "Woman, dying by degrees, tells of symptoms of radium posioning." Courier-News, May 16: 6.

—. 1928. "3 more are victims of radiun poisoning." Evening Courier, May 22: 1.

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the early morning hours of July 4, 1925, the crowd at The Pickwick Club in Boston were celebrating the holiday at the “Before-the-Fourth” dance when roughly fifty couples took to the dance floor for one of the final songs of the night. With so much revelry and vibrations from the dancing, no one noticed the subtle sounds distressed infrastructure makes just before a tragedy, and even if they had, there likely wasn’t enough time to avoid the disaster. Around 3:30 am, the ceiling above them collapsed, as the entire five-story building came down on top of them, killing forty-four people and injuring countless more.

At the time, the Pickwick Club disaster was the deadliest building collapse and one of the worst accidents in in the city’s history. It was followed by large investigation, during which the disaster was temporarily blamed on the Charleston, and a sensational trial aimed at punishing those responsible. However, in the one hundred years since the disaster, the tragedy at the Pickwick Club has been largely forgotten, overshadowed by larger and more devastating accidents.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

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References

Boston Daily Globe. 1925. "12 bodies taken from the Pickwick Club ruins as searchers place toll of death at 40." Boston Daily Globe, July 5: 1.

—. 1925. "Leaping of dancers caused collapse, view of survivor." Boston Daily Globe, July 6: 11.

—. 1925. "Officer beaten in raid staged at Pickwick Club." Boston Daily Globe, February 9: 2.

—. 1925. "Stabbing and small riot in Pickwick Club." Boston Daily Globe, March 23: 1.

—. 1925. "Survivors' stories of building horror." Boston Daily Globe, July 5: 20.

—. 1925. "Testifies Hendrick said Pickwick safe." Boston Daily Globe, Juky 28: 1.

—. 1925. "Testimony ends in cluyb tragedy." Boston Daily Globe, July 11: 10.

—. 1925. "Thousands seek sight of ruins." Boston Daily Globe, July 6: 12.

Donovan, John J. 1925. "Probe planned by grand jury." Boston Daily Globe, July 5: 20.

Harris, Henry. 1925. "Pickwick Club lure lay in its mystery." Boston Daily Globe, July 5: 18.

Keefe, John E. 2024. Deathtrap: Boston's Pickwick Club Disaster. Boston, MA: Menotomy Publishing.

—. 2018. The Pickwick Club Disaster. Boston, MA: Menotomy Publishing.

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In the early evening of October 19, 1970, police and firefighters were called to the Santa Cruz County home of Dr. Victor Ohta, a well-respected ophthalmologist, for a report of a house fire. Intending to siphon water from the pool out back, firefighters ran a hose from the truck to the backyard. However, when they reached the pool, the made a horrible discovery—floating in the pool were the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Ohta, as well as their two children, and the doctor’s secretary, Dorothy Cadwallader. When they searched the scene, investigators discovered a cryptic note stuck under the windshield wiper of Victor Ohta’s car that made references to the occult and the counterculture movement.

At the time of the murders, Southern California was experiencing an unprecedented wave of violent murders by multiple serial and spree killers, as well as the notorious murders committed by the Manson family. Given the content of the note and the potentially ritualistic way in which the Ohta family had been killed, investigators and residents couldn’t help but fear that they may have another murderous cult on their hands.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Come to the Live Show in New York on June 27th!

Preorder The Butcher Legacy!

Resources

Bennett, Bruce, and Christine Connor. 2017. "Killer Prophet." A Crime to Remember. Janaury 24.

Hagar, Philip, and Dick Main. 1970. "Neighbor charged in Ohta murders." Los Angeles Times, October 23: 1.

Holmes, Christian. 1970. "Doctror, family slain in mansion." San Francisco Examiner, October 20: 1.

John Linley Frazier v. The Superior Court of Santa Cruz County. 1971. 22812 (Superior Court of Santa Cruz County, July 7).

Murray, Emerson. 2022. Murder Capital of the World. Santa Cruz, CA.

Santa Cruz Sentinel. 1970. "Live Oak fire chief first to discover bodies in pool." Santa Cruz Sentinel, October 20: 5.

—. 1970. "'Most tragic murder'." Santa Cruz Sentinel, October 20: 5.

 

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the afternoon of July 18, 1984, James Huberty left his apartment in the San Ysidro neighborhood of San Diego, California, and drove one block over to the nearby McDonalds. After walking through the door of the restaurant, Huberty raised his Uzi semi-automatic 9mm and began indiscriminately shooting at patrons, employees, and anyone else who happened to cross into his line of sight.

At the time, and for decades after, the San Ysidro McDonalds massacre was the worst mass shooting in American history, with the shooter killing twenty-one people and injuring nearly two dozen others before being struck down by a sniper’s bullet. The incident lasted over an hour, during which time San Diego police and SWAT members surrounded the building, but didn’t enter the building until an hour after the shooting started, when Huberty was already dead.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

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References

Ben-Ali, Russell. 1990. "After a long wait, monument is dedicated at Massacre site." Los Angeles Times, December 14.

Corwin, Miles, and Tom Howlett. 1984. "Neighbors reall a man who never smiled." Los Angeles Times, July 19: 14.

Crea, Jackie. 2025. Survivors remember San Ysidro McDonald's mass shooting. July 18. Accessed August 6, 2025. https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/san-ysidro-mcdonalds-mass-shooting-40-years-later/3569489/.

Cummings, Judith. 1984. "Neighbors term mass slayer a quiet but hotheaded loner." New York Times, July 20: 1.

Freed, David. 1984. "21 die in San Diego massacre." Los Angeles Times, July 19: 1.

Logan, Alan C., Jeffrey J. Nicholson, Stephen J. Schoenthaler, and Susan L. Prescott. 2024. "Neurolaw: Revisiting Huberty v. McDonald’s through the Lens of Nutritional Criminology and Food Crime." Laws.

2016. 77 Minutes. Directed by Charlie Minn.

New York Times. 1984. "Coast man kills 20 in rampage at a restaurant." New York Times, July 19: 1.

Time-Life Books. 1993. Mass Murderers. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books.

Weintraub, Daniel. 1984. "'That guy's gonna shoot you'." Los Angeles Times, July 20: 2.

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022)
Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023)
Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley
Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally
Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025)

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.