Unknown Narrator / Historian Deborah Blum

The police go back to his apartment. They find this dismembered body. I love this story so much. And the...

The police go back to his apartment. They find this dismembered body. I love this story so much. And the...

Norris is the on-call medical examiner that night. He goes all the way out to Brooklyn, driven by his chauffeur, to this shabby little back-worker apartment in Brooklyn and goes in.

Norris is the on-call medical examiner that night. He goes all the way out to Brooklyn, driven by his chauffeur, to this shabby little back-worker apartment in Brooklyn and goes in.

He takes one look at it and goes, you know, no, that woman was dead before he cut her up.

He takes one look at it and goes, you know, no, that woman was dead before he cut her up.

A lot of people lived in buildings that were pretty much equipped by what was called illuminating gas, right? And illuminating gas was a coal-derived gas. It had hydrogen in it, so it was explosive. And it had carbon monoxide in it, so it was poisonous.

A lot of people lived in buildings that were pretty much equipped by what was called illuminating gas, right? And illuminating gas was a coal-derived gas. It had hydrogen in it, so it was explosive. And it had carbon monoxide in it, so it was poisonous.

When you are killed by carbon monoxide, your skin flushes a deep pink. So here she is, she's bled out completely, right? She should be pale as a sheet. Instead, she's flush pink because that's what carbon monoxide does.

When you are killed by carbon monoxide, your skin flushes a deep pink. So here she is, she's bled out completely, right? She should be pale as a sheet. Instead, she's flush pink because that's what carbon monoxide does.

They knock a kettle or something over that's boiling away on a gas burner, put out the flame, illuminating gas, which they don't smell, starts seeping into the apartment. And he and Gettler have already shown that when carbon monoxide gets to the kind of level he's looking at, it kills you. So she has to have been dead.

They knock a kettle or something over that's boiling away on a gas burner, put out the flame, illuminating gas, which they don't smell, starts seeping into the apartment. And he and Gettler have already shown that when carbon monoxide gets to the kind of level he's looking at, it kills you. So she has to have been dead.

And he goes actually into court opposite to the district attorney and the police department and wins.

And he goes actually into court opposite to the district attorney and the police department and wins.

There were dozens of these formulas, each with a different number, each with a different mix of things.

There were dozens of these formulas, each with a different number, each with a different mix of things.

The government is starting to go, OK, this isn't working. Let's supercharge poisons into the alcohol that the bootleggers are stealing.

The government is starting to go, OK, this isn't working. Let's supercharge poisons into the alcohol that the bootleggers are stealing.

The early 20th century is a uniquely poisonous time for a number of reasons.

The early 20th century is a uniquely poisonous time for a number of reasons.