Episode Ep 258 August 20, 2026 1 hr 11 min

The Dark Strangler, Every Landlady's Nightmare | Part 2: Earle Nelson | Portland, Oregon

From PNW Haunts & Homicides PNW Haunts and Homicides

Picking up where we left off in Part 1, Earle Leonard Nelson — the man newspapers called the 'Dark Strangler,' the 'Gorilla Man,' and the 'Gorilla Killer' — unbeknownst to the public or authorities had left the Pacific Northwest and was heading east. Behind him: a trail of victims across California, Oregon, and Washington, including four in Portland alone. Ahead of him: a killing spree that would accelerate across the Midwest and Eastern United States before finally being brought to a halt in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Part 2 follows Nelson to Iowa, Kansas City, Philadelphia, and Buffalo where he would continue his brutal crimes. His final ten days would become the most violent stretch of the entire spree — five women killed across Detroit, Chicago, and Winnipeg between June 1st and June 10th, 1927. It's Winnipeg where the trail finally catches up with him, thanks to a jeweler, a barber, and a citywide search of boardinghouses.

We follow Nelson's arrest, trial, and eventual execution — hanged on Friday, January 13th, 1928 at the Vaughan Street Jail, becoming the 13th person to hang there, after walking 13 steps to the gallows. His confirmed count of over twenty victims would stand as a horrifying record in America for nearly fifty years.

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