Carter Roy

They staged fake shootouts, bank robberies, and battles just to boost tourism, complete with fake blood and blank cartridges.

The whole town and even the local indigenous tribe were in on it.

visitors failed to notice that the violence only ever broke out when trains rolled into the station, or that only locals ever got hurt.

They were too busy hiding or running for the hills.

Today's case takes place during this era of myth-making, at a time when gold fever struck America hard.

But unlike most stories we tell on the show, it plays out backwards.

See, the official account is that a conspiracy happened.

That in 1873, a wilderness guide named Alfred Packer lured a group of prospectors into the mountains to rob them, kill them, and eat their flesh.

But that story

might not be entirely true.

Alfred definitely ate his companions, that much we know.

But the harder question to untangle is, did he kill them first?

Welcome to Conspiracy Theories, a Spotify podcast.

I'm Carter Roy.

You can find us here every Wednesday.

Be sure to check us out on Instagram at The Conspiracy Pod.

And we would love to hear from you.

So if you're listening on the Spotify app, swipe up and give us your thoughts.

This episode contains discussions of death, murder, and cannibalism.

Consider this when deciding how and when you'll listen.