Appalachian Murder, Mystery And Legend · Larry Bentley

The Hardscrabble Death Boogie

·20 min·1 clip

The neighbors watched Martha Wise's strange ritual so often they gave it a name: the death dance of the hardscrabble.

Host Larry Bentley narrates the chilling true story of Martha Hazel Wise, a plain-looking widow in 1920s Ohio who poisoned her mother, brother, and sister-in-law with arsenic. The episode details her methodical crimes, the bizarre 'death dance' she performed after funerals, the investigation by a suspicious local doctor and sheriff, and her eventual trial and life imprisonment.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Appalachian Murder, Mystery And Legend