Buried Bones - a historical true crime podcast with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes · Exactly Right and iHeartPodcasts

The Shooting of the Century PT 2

·49 min·3 clips

A burglar named Paul Wirth says he was in the Woodward house when the shotgun went off.

1. Buried Bones centers this episode on the 1955 shooting of Billy Woodward at the Woodward estate on Long Island. 2. Kate Winkler Dawson hosts as a journalist with 25 years writing about true crime, and Paul Holes hosts as a retired cold case investigator who applies forensic analysis to old cases. 3. The episode asks whether Billy Woodward's death was an accident, a homicide, or something shaped by a difficult marriage and misleading evidence. 4. Kate recounts that Billy and Anne Woodward left their estate for a ritzy party with the former king and his wife, then returned home to separate bedrooms. 5. Anne says she heard something on the roof, saw shadows in her bedroom, grabbed the shotgun from a chair, and fired at a dark figure in the hallway. 6. Billy is described as dead halfway in his bedroom and halfway in the hallway, with a shotgun pellet entering his brain and other pellets striking his skull. 7. Paul Holes says the physical evidence does not yet fully match Anne's initial statement, especially the lack of visible damage to the inside of the bedroom door. 8. He also says the pellet spread and wound pattern suggest an intermediate-range shot, not a close-range blast. 9. Kate notes that a silver .40 caliber handgun was recovered at the scene, adding another detail the investigation had to address. 10. The hosts then step back to the relationship history, saying Billy filed for divorce in 1947 and Anne replied, 'hell no.' 11. They describe both spouses having public affairs and public arguments, including Anne shouting, 'Why don't you just bring a man in our bed?' 12. Kate explains that Billy came from a wealthy banking family, while Anne arrived in New York in the 1930s, worked as a model, became a radio actress, and later performed at Fifi's Monte Carlo Nightclub. 13. The episode also raises the rumor that William Woodward Senior met Anne first and may have encouraged Billy to marry her because of rumors about Billy's sexuality. 14. Elsie Ogden Crider Woodward is presented as another force in the story, since she could not stand Anne and wanted a different marriage for her son. 15. Paul Holes calls the relationship deceitful and notes that divorce, money, custody, and family reputation all sat behind the shooting. 16. Kate says Billy had argued with Anne about his Helio courier airplane purchase the night of the shooting and had also gone to her hometown to dig up dirt. 17. The episode has a conversational, back-and-forth style, with Kate telling the timeline and Paul interrupting with forensic interpretation and case-law distinctions. 18. The tone shifts between social history, domestic conflict, and evidence review, with both hosts using direct questions to test each theory against the facts. 19. Listeners interested in old Hollywood-style wealth, forensic analysis, and historical family scandals will get the most from this episode. 20. Listeners looking for a quick, linear mystery without marital conflict or evidence debate may skip it.

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