Transcript

Episode 713: The Horrific Crimes of the Aspirin Bandit

From Morbid | Podcast · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 59 min · 12,133 words · 317 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Episode 713: The Horrific Crimes of the Aspirin Bandit", an episode of Morbid | Podcast published September 30, 2025 (59 min, about 12,133 words). It mentions 24 people, works and ideas, including Aspirin Bandit, George Joseph Spec, Catherine Papus, Betty Allen, Detective Ed Burns.

What this episode is about

The discussion centers around the infamous "Aspirin Bandit," a criminal known for committing a series of shocking crimes. The hosts reflect on their recent live show experience and share their excitement and gratitude for the audience's support, while also lightheartedly recalling minor hiccups during the event.

Key takeaways

  • Weekend recordings: where spontaneity meets chaos, and we all embrace our inner 'hot mess'.
  • Live shows are a hug fest in disguise; awkward hugs are just love’s clumsy cousins.
  • If the weekend crowd doesn't bring the vibes, are they even weekend crowd? Pressure’s on, folks!
  • Life: a balancing act between 'I want to do it all' and 'Why am I so tired?'
  • Embrace the chaos & exhaustion; only in the insanity of life do we find the most fun.

Who speaks in this episode?

  • Ash (Host) · 30 min speaking
  • Elena (Host) · 30 min speaking
  • Morgan (Host) · 3 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Ash Kelley, Elena DeLuca, Urban Legend, Lauren Ash
  2. – 10:00: Tobias Forge, Betty Allen, Ash Kelley, January 13th, 1941
  3. – 15:00: Betty Allen, Detective Ed Burns, Boy's Town, Bronx
  4. – 20:00: Betty Allen, Catherine Papus, Aspirin Bandit, Murder
  5. – 25:00: Betty Allen, Murder, Detective Ed Burns, Fingerprinting
  6. – 30:00: Anthony Litzy
  7. – 35:00: Postcards, Aspirin Bandit, Elena DeLuca, Father Edward Flanigan
  8. – 40:00: Postcards, Aspirin Bandit, George Joseph Spec, Elena DeLuca
  9. – 45:00: Murder, Electric Chair
  10. – 50:00: Murder, George Joseph Spec, Trial
  11. – 55:00: Murder
  12. – 59:23: Aspirin Bandit, Elena DeLuca, George Joseph Spec, Murder

Notable quotes from "Episode 713: The Horrific Crimes of the Aspirin Bandit"

  • This could be very unhinged. but, here we are. I'm going to talk about the aspirin bandit today.
    about Ash Kelley · at
  • So, on the afternoon of January 13th, 1941, Betty Allen was home alone.
    about Betty Allen · at
  • Interesting. Now, when Bronx detective Ed Burns came to the Allen apartment, the scene supported the story that Betty had told. Someone had clearly torn the place apart. ripping out.
    about Detective Ed Burns · at
  • Assault on Betty Allen, Ed Burns was called to the apartment of John and Catherine Papus. John had been at work that afternoon when someone came to the apartment and killed Catherine.
    about Catherine Papus · at
  • Get inside. because they had been in communication with detectives in the Bronx. DC police suspected this was probably the aspirin bandit. So, they rushed to the apartment to…
    about Aspirin Bandit · at
  • And this time, they were We're going to catch this fucker. So, if their estimations were right, detectives in the Bronx expected their suspect to arrive back in the city on or around March 3rd, which is [ __ ] badass that they were able to.
    about Bronx · at
  • Yep. You did it. George's trial began in midappril. And he maintained his defiant stance from beginning to end.
    about Trial · at
  • July 7th, 1941. After the customary appeals and small delays, 24year-old George Spec was executed in the electric chair at Sing Prison on February 26th, 1942.
    about George Joseph Spec · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • George Joseph Spec — Person · Perpetrator (serial rapist/robber; murderer) · 3 mentions · first at
    Identified as the 'Aspirin Bandit' and convicted of Katherine Papus' murder; his aliases, MO, arrest, confession, trial, and execution form the episode's core arc.
  • Catherine Papus — Person · Murder victim · 2 mentions · first at
    Her killing is the pivotal escalation and the case prosecutors use to seek the death penalty against George Joseph Spec.
  • Betty Allen — Person · Victim (attempted sexual assault/robbery) · 10 mentions · first at
    Her January 13, 1941 attack is the early anchor case that later links to the Papus murder via the aspirin-and-water MO.
  • Detective Ed Burns — Person · Lead investigator (referenced) · 2 mentions · first at
    Connects the early Allen attack to the Papus murder via MO, coordinates cross-precinct information gathering, and drives pattern recognition.
  • Ash Kelley — Person · Host · 3 mentions · first at
    Introduces the episode and narrates the 'Aspirin Bandit' case, guiding the timeline and investigative details.
  • Elena DeLuca — Person · Co-host · 7 mentions · first at
    Co-narrates with Ash Kelley, reacting to developments and prompting clarifications that structure the story.
    Oh [ __ ] Now you know why he's called the aspirin baby.
  • Anthony Litzy — Person · Wrongly accused suspect · 3 mentions · first at
    Initially identified by Betty Allen and arrested, but later cleared because he was jailed during subsequent attacks and the Papus murder.
    And she flips through a few pages and she identified Anthony Litzy as the man who attacked her.
  • Father Edward Flanigan — Person · Referenced figure / institutional contact · 2 mentions · first at
    Founder of Boy's Town; provides postcards used for handwriting comparison that helps identify the suspect.
    Who fit the description of the man they were looking for. He did, however, explained that he had received several postcards in recent months from men whose names he didn't recognize, and he offered to hand them over if it would help.
  • John Papus — Person · Husband / witness · 1 mention · first at
    Finds the ransacked apartment and Catherine Papus' body; provides background and is ruled out via alibi and fingerprint elimination.
    So three weeks after the attempted assault on Betty Allen, Ed Burns was called to the apartment of John and Catherine Papus. John had been at work that afternoon when someone came to the apartment and killed Catherine.
  • Tobias Forge — Person · Off-topic reference (joke) · 3 mentions · first at
    Referenced in a live-show joke about a surprise guest; not connected to the case.
    Out after the Sunday show. I don't know. I made a joke at the end of the at the Friday show that like Tobias Forge was coming out.
  • Morgan Freeman — Person · Off-topic reference · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned briefly in banter; not connected to the case narrative.
    This is Morgan, [ __ ] On the weekend.
  • Lauren Ash — Person · Live-show attendee (referenced) · 1 mention · first at
    Thanked for gifting a cross stitch at the hosts' live show; unrelated to the case.
    And shout out to Lauren who made us the coolest cross stitch I've ever seen.

Concepts & topics

  • Aspirin Bandit — Concept · Core topic / case label · 6 mentions · first at
    Nickname for the offender whose signature tactic was requesting aspirin and water to gain entry and control victims.
  • Murder — Concept · Core topic (crime category) · 8 mentions · first at
    The investigation culminates in the murder of Catherine Papus, which becomes the sole charge pursued to obtain a capital conviction.
    Called to the apartment of John and Catherine Papus. John had been at work that afternoon when someone came to the apartment and killed Catherine.
  • Fingerprinting — Concept · Key forensic method · 1 mention · first at
    A fingerprint on the Papus water glass ultimately matches George Joseph Spec and becomes decisive evidence.
    Yeah, exactly. Fortunately, by 1941, crime scene investigators had started carrying fingerprinting kits and they were able to take the fingerprints of everyone who had been at the scene since the body was discovered at the very.
  • Postcards — Concept · Investigative artifact · 4 mentions · first at
    Postcards sent to Father Edward Flanigan provide handwriting samples that are compared to hotel registers and help justify arrest.
    On the cards were all aliases, Burns and the other investigators thought at the very least that the postcards could provide them with a handwriting sample.
  • Electric Chair — Concept · Execution method · 2 mentions · first at
    George Joseph Spec is executed by electric chair, concluding the case narrative.
    July 7th, 1941. After the customary appeals and small delays, 24year-old George Spec was executed in the electric chair at Sing Prison on February 26th, 1942.

Places & events

  • Bronx — Place · Primary crime/investigation hub · 2 mentions · first at
    Multiple attacks occur in the Bronx; Detective Ed Burns and the Bronx precinct coordinate the multi-precinct pattern recognition and response.
  • Trial — Event · Case resolution event · 2 mentions · first at
    George Joseph Spec's trial for Catherine Papus' murder results in a first-degree conviction and sets up the death sentence.
  • Boy's Town — Place · Key narrative device / claimed origin · 1 mention · first at
    The offender repeatedly claims he grew up in Boy's Town to build credibility; police contact its founder and obtain postcards tied to the suspect.
    Yeah, they really are. Meanwhile, detectives reached out to Father Edward Flanigan, the founder of Boytown.
  • January 13th, 1941 — Event · Timeline anchor (first described attack) · 2 mentions · first at
    Date of the Betty Allen attack, which becomes the foundational incident for linking the broader series.
    So, on the afternoon of January 13th, 1941, Betty Allen was home alone.
  • February 10th — Event · Timeline marker (investigative lead) · 1 mention · first at
    Marks the point when detectives receive the Hightstown, New Jersey report and sketch that helps confirm the suspect's appearance.
    Now, on February 10th, she was a fairy. On February 10th, as Burns and the other detectives continued trying to piece together the timeline of events and track the killer's movements,.
  • Washington Heights — Place · Crime location (one incident) · 1 mention · first at
    One of the linked rape/robbery incidents occurs in Washington Heights, supporting the multi-borough pattern.
    In the Allen apartment, three other rape and robberies had occurred. Two in the Bronx and one in Washington Heights. And in each incident, the attacker had asked the woman for…

Media & podcasts

  • Urban Legend — Media · Pop-culture reference · 1 mention · first at
    Used as an opening aside; not part of the case but frames the hosts' tone and references horror media.
    The weekend. If you've seen the Urban Legend movie, which I hope you have. If you haven't, go watch it.

Full transcript with timestamps

Hey weirdos. I'm Ash. And I'm Elena. And this is More Bed. This is Morgan, [ __ ]

On the weekend. I know. It's so weird. I feel like we very rarely record on the weekends.

We try not to. The weekend. The weekend. If you've seen the Urban Legend movie,

which I hope you have. If you haven't, go watch it. If you haven't, what the hell are you doing?

What the hell? What's the If you haven't seen the Urban Legend movie, then where the hell are you at?

I don't think that one really worked, but whatever. Um, I don't think it did. Okay. I didn't need you to double down on my own opinion,

but here's the thing. I really liked it. Okay, that's good. I'm just very tired.

Yeah. No big facts. So tired. We had our first live show last night at the Wilb.

At the Wilb Old Wilbur. Ye old Wilbur is what we thought what we found out it's called.

It was so much fun. You guys, I said on my Instagram story, you showed up and you showed out.

You did. You showed in every direction. You showed in, up, down, left, right, center everywhere.

Under on top. It was so much fun. And like we had a couple of like hiccups, but like super minor hiccups. And you guys were just ling with us. Yeah, cuz they were funny hiccups. That's how they, you know, ruined anything. But like I it started right away when I didn't know when I was supposed to go on stage.

I know. And I think everyone heard me over the microphone be like, "Do I do I go up now?"

And I was I literally was like, "Yeah, just just go. Just go. Go." But yeah, so that was so much fun and we got to meet a bunch of you. It was just it was great.

I know. Everyone we met was so lovely and the vibe was so good in there. It really was.

Like you guys really brought some just delicious vibes. Yeah, here's the thing. Um, you're going to be hearing this after it already happened just because of the way the cookie crumbles, but Sunday crowd, you better have brought it.

I hope you brought it cuz Friday brought it. Yeah, they brought it. Yeah. So, yesterday's crowd.

Yeah. Hope you brought it. And shout out to Lauren who made us the coolest cross stitch I've ever seen.

And was the sweetest Bobi. Sorry, I gave you the most awkward hug um of human existence because my shoes were so high and the stage was high up. So, I like went to give her a side hug, but I kind of just leaned on her.

I think I just grabbed your arm or your hand because I just didn't know what to do.

You hugged last night and I hugged and we all hugged. Hey, it's going it's all I love you guys.

Yeah, I say I'm not a hugger, but then I just go and hug everyone. Yeah, you are. I'm a secret hugger.

You are. I'm You know what? I'm coming out of the closet as a hugger. You're officially saying it.

Here I am. Here she is. Except don't hug me. I'll hug you. Yeah, that's all it's like. If I want to hug you, I'll hug you. Yeah.

Yeah. So, if I hugged you, I wanted to hug you. Look at that. Look at that. Look at that.

Yeah. We had everybody was so amazing and we had all the people, you know, that love and care about us back there with us, which was so lovely.

Yeah. But yeah, I'm exhausted. Very big tired. Um, you know, one of my kids is going through like a slight little like sleep regression type duad. So,

little dad. So, uh, I don't exactly sleep through the night ever right now. It's like it feels like a newborn a little bit, but

I slept through I'm sorry. I slept through the night and I slept in and I'm still tired.

I got I didn't sleep through the night and then I woke up and took one of them to dance and then immediately went to karate. And this is like John was going to just do all the things, but because I was I had the thing last night and I

and we had some of the day taken up. Yeah. don't like missing like, you know, bedtime with them and everything. So, I was like, "No, I want to do it all."

And then I was like, "But I'm so tired." You're like that Sarah Jessica Parker movie. How does she do it all?

Except I think she might be a [ __ ] in that movie. And you're probably Well, I mean, you're bitching, but you're not a [ __ ]

You're bitching, but you're not a [ __ ] I like that. Donest Darko. Um, but yeah. So, I'm exhausted, but you know, here we are. It's all good.

It's all good exhaustion. It's Yeah. Honestly, life has been like Well, before I go too far,

I was just going to say, where's this going? It's so professional life has been [ __ ] sick lately.

Oh, yeah. We We are [ __ ] professional life did a 180. And then like personal life went a little like

Well, it's like life in our in our own um little houses. A+ [ __ ] awesome. Outside of that,

outside of that could use a little uh WD40 cuz it's a little squeaky. I think we need more than that, babe.

But you know what? But you know, babe, I got you, babe. I got you, babe. That's my I'm the we're we're Sunny and Sher before they divorce.

So, there's that. Yeah. Um, but yeah, we're going to We have a case for you today. That's why you're here.

They're like, "Can you can you get to it?" They're like, "Can you stop being insane?"

This could be very unhinged. Uh, but, you know, here we are. I'm going to talk about the aspirin bandit today.

The what? I just took a sip of coffee at like the wor the worst. The aspirin bandit.

Is this about someone stealing the aspirin? You would think. No, you would think it's a little different. So, I know that's that's a very interesting name, but we'll get to it.

Topical. Uh, so let's let's begin at the beginning. Okay. You know, a really good place to begin.

Yeah. By the way, I'm sorry about my straw. There's nothing I can do about it. Oh, yeah. Mikey, don't worry. It's fine. I need the coffee.

We have It's It You know, we're trying to like be kind to the environment with glass and and metal straws,

but then it does a little like But it But you know what? ASMR. Yeah. We won't do it all the time, so don't worry.

So, on the afternoon of January 13th, 1941, Betty Allen was home home alone. Home alone.

Home alone. I don't I was gonna say home alone. I'm not really sure. Maybe alone. I'm not I don't know what's going on. She was she was living that makin life.

What? That's what she was living. Wait, what? Mol Kulkin. Mccoli Kulkin. I did the K too soon. Jesus Christ.

Oh my god. I told you. Christ almighty. I warned you. What's the other Kirkin? What's the other Kulkin? God damn it. There's many Kulkans. Who? Who's Roman? Roman is uh Kieran maybe.

Is it Kieran? There was a Kieran. Now I have to look this up. We're never going to get to this story.

We haven't even started this. Hello. I think it's Kieran Kulkin. There's Kieran Shipka.

Yeah, it's Kieran Kulka. It's Kieran Kulkin. But Kieran Shipka. There's McCaulay Kulkin. There's Rory Kulkin.

No, you don't have to tell me all of I just like Kieran. Yes. And Kieran Kulkin Kieran Kieran Kulkin is Roman.

He is. But Rory Kulkin was in Scream 4. He plays Charlie. Oh, I did like Charlie, too.

And I thought he was so good in that. He really was. I really thought he was awesome in that.

Of all the of all the Kulkans, Kieran is my favorite. Kieran is your favorite. I mean, I get that. I think I think he's pretty high up on people's lists right now, but honestly, they all kind of rock.

Yeah, they're all good. They're all pretty great. So, I like you all. I'm just saying the best. Since you're obviously listening, it's fine.

Listen, listen, Kulkin weirdos. Listen, Kulkin, I feel like I'm losing my mind.

Uh oh, one little side note again. Oh my god. I feel like and again, this is coming out after uh the Sunday show. I don't know. I made a joke at the end of the um at the Friday show that like Tobias Forge was coming out.

I don't know if you should do that tomorrow. I don't think I should do it Sunday. I think I genuinely disappointed everyone cuz I was like, just kidding. Yeah, don't do that at the end of the show

cuz like he's he's in Mexico. Like he's he's not here. It was funny though when you were like I'm kidding. He's in Mexico.

Yeah. I was like come on. Like he's not even here. Oh man. But I think I think everyone believed me for a second which like thank you for having the faith in me that you think that I could get Tobias Forge to come out for the end of our show.

That's Here's the thing. If we were going to get Tobias Forge to come out, I feel like we wouldn't put him at the end of the show. That'd be so rude.

I would have had him sat on that chase lounge the whole time. I was like, "What are you about to say? Where where would you have him sat

on the Sha's lounge on the on the He would have just been a little ornament that sits there and every now and then I'd be like, Tobias Forge, what's up?

Hey, Tobias. So funny that you heard Tobias. But yeah, it was funny. I made that joke. I I don't think anybody was mad at me about it, but I felt the disappointment, so I didn't I don't think I'll do that on Sunday.

Here's how I'll call your disappointment. Our pumpkin necklaces that I ordered us just came in.

Oh, hell yeah. I want to wear the [ __ ] out of that. Let's [ __ ] go. So, yeah, if you were at the Friday show,

sorry if I disappointed you with that joke. I truly didn't mean to. Okay. Um, someday we'll have him be a special guest.

Yeah. You know, on a chase on something. We'll put him on a Chase lounge. But in Sunday, who knows if I made that joke. And if I did, sorry I disappointed you too.

I'm telling you. I don't know if you should. I don't think I maybe I'll just tell you on Sunday that I made that joke and it disappointed everyone.

There you go. There you go. And now you'll just hear it again. I figured it out. Okay.

Okay. All right. We're We're losing it. All right. So, on the afternoon of January 13th, 1941, Betty Allen was home alone

and a ran and a ran in the Bronx apartment she shared with her husband. The Bronx.

And she heard a knock at the door. When she opened it, Betty was met by a young man with olive skin. That's how he was described in dark hair who she had never seen before. The man explained that a few days earlier he had been hitchhiking in Connecticut and was picked up by her husband who was driving his bakery delivery route. The young man told Betty he'd had a hard life and had grown up in Boy's Town which was a small village in Nebraska established a few decades earlier by father Edward Flanigan as a home for orphaned boys.

Oh, I feel like I've heard of Boytown. Yeah. He was on his way to visit his sick sister in New York. And Betty's husband had been kind enough to not only give him a ride, but also lend him a few dollars. Now that he'd arrived in the city, he wanted to repay the small loan, which is like really nice.

I don't know if I buy it. Betty explained that her husband was still at work and would be home later that day if he wanted to return information.

Yeah, that you can't do that. Your husband is always home as far as strangers are concerned. Uh the man seemed a little disappointed and again expressed that he really just wanted to return the money. But Betty just reiterated her previous statement. My husband is not home. He will be home later this evening. Accepting this whole thing, the man was about to leave. But before he did, he wondered if Betty might be able to spare a few aspirin and a glass of water because he said he had a terrible headache all day and would have to walk back to his sister's apartment, which was like kind of far away and he was really dealing with a headache.

All right. Betty was like, "Yeah, of course." So she said, "Yeah, wait. Wait here. I'll get you the pills and the water." But as soon as Betty had walked away, the man slipped in behind her and closed the door.

Oh no. That is really scary. Really scary. And actually, like I hate saying this, but that's such a good way to get in. Like most people really wouldn't think twice about that.

He endeared himself and then he just asked for something very simple, which is like I really have a headache. Do you? And he didn't like insist on coming in the house. He like waited

knowing that she's not going to like or most likely not going to lock the door behind her.

But now you know lock the door. Yeah. So once inside the apartment, the man forced Betty into the back bedroom and pushed her on the bed.

Oh no. Uh then he and just as a obviously I think you can all see that this is going to be a rough one. I would love to throw a trigger warning right now just in case there's some sexual assault in this one. It's a little little tough. Um, he tied her hands with a necktie and her feet with a towel. And then he gagged her with a handkerchief.

Jesus. She was laying face down on the bed, but she could hear him rumaging through the apartment, you know, presumably looking for cash and valuables. But when he'd finished ransacking the apartment, he returned to the bedroom, and he could she could hear him taking off his clothes,

presumably to sexually assault her. Yeah. Fortunately, just as he had started to unbutton his pants, the telephone rang really loudly and scared him.

Oh. And like freaked him out and he quickly dressed himself up and ran out of the apartment.

The telephone scared him off. That's crazy. I don't know if it's just like I'm glad. But

it's just like interference from the outside world maybe just made him be like, "Oh, [ __ ] Like I'm going to get in trouble here." I don't know.

Interesting. Now, when Bronx detective Ed Burns came to the Allen apartment, the scene supported the story that Betty had told. Someone had clearly torn the place apart. You know, ripping out drawers, pulling out the contents of the cabinets. But when he spoke to Betty and her husband, Burns only learned like a few things of value that had been stolen. He was like, he didn't really take a lot.

And other more valuable items were left behind. Weird. So, also after giving investigators a description of her attacker, both Betty and her husband claimed they didn't know the man, and her husband couldn't think of anyone who matched that description. So, that story

was a was not was ruth. Yeah. The rest of the crime scene was pretty unhelpful. There was a glass of water and a bottle of aspirin on the table in the kitchen. But when they dusted the glass, neither Betty nor the attacker's prince were even visible on it, indicating that he'd actually been smart enough to wipe it down before leaving the apartment, because he had wiped Betty's off, too.

Oh. When he considered all the evidence, Burns theorized that this probably wasn't the first time this attacker had done something like this, cuz that was pretty smart.

Mhm. Uh, also he left behind valuables laying in plain sight while taking again the smaller, less valuable ones. So he was like, I don't even think that robbery was the prime motive here. So later that afternoon, detectives brought Betty and her husband into the station to look over like a bunch of photos of 50 known criminals that they wanted to take a look at.

That's a lot of people. And she flips through a few pages and she identified Anthony Litzy as the man who attacked her.

Okay. At the time, Litzy was known to bronze police for his involvement in a number of robberies a few years earlier, but since he's he'd been released from prison, he'd stayed out of trouble, and he'd actually maintained employment with a local construction crew. So, they were like, "Fuck, is he like back at it again?"

Yeah. Now, there was nothing in his past as well to suggest that he was a violent predator, too, which made them like consider what was going on.

Yeah, that's weird. But when investigators spoke to his employer, they learned that Anthony had been working at the Parkchester Chester Apartments on the day Betty Allen was attacked, which is where she lived.

Okay. So, he was brought in for questioning. Under interrogation, Litzy vehemently denied having anything to do with this whole thing. Um, and he offered two of his co-workers as alibis. He was like, "I did not do this." But when they learned that both of Litzy's alibis were related to him by blood or marriage,

that doesn't [ __ ] check out at all. He was arrested for the attack on Betty Allen.

All right. I still don't know if it's him. You don't know. So, his arrest represented the best possible outcome. A quick resolution

that brought this whole thing to a close. Feels too soon. Or so it seemed. Imagine if I was like, "And that's the end."

That's it. The end. Yeah. The end. Welcome to the shortest morbid ever recorded.

And what a happy ending. He got caught. I know. And like, you know, bye. Uh, so three weeks after the attempted assault on Betty Allen, Ed Burns was called to the apartment of John and Catherine Papus. John had been at work that afternoon when someone came to the apartment and killed Catherine.

Oh, yeah. According to John, there were several things missing, including a necklace, a diamond engagement ring, and an unknown amount of dimes that Catherine had been saving in a tin on her dresser.

Oh. But what immediately caught Burns's attention was the open bottle of aspirin and a glass of water sitting on the coffee table.

Oh [ __ ] Now you know why he's called the aspirin baby. And that is such good detective work

to notice something cuz again that's pretty innocuous. Innocuous. Many people get headaches and especially around this time we're in the 40s here.

Everybody got headaches. You taking some aspirin, you got headaches. Like shit's rough. We like depression era like you know like post depression. It's like everybody's got a [ __ ] headache and you're all taking an aspirin for it. It's just like a normal thing to do.

Now, in the bedroom, Catherine's body was on the bed. She had scratches and bruising on her face. Her bra was torn and her dress was hiked up to her waist, but she was still wearing underwear.

Later, the medical examiner would confirm that she had not been sexually assaulted, but she had been strangled and several of her neckbones had been broken in the process.

That's brutal. Brutal. When she was discovered, she had a linen towel tied around her throat, which had been ripped, and the other was used to bind her ankles and her wrists. Um, had been bound with a man's new uh, blue necktie. On the bed, there was also a bald-up handkerchief that looked like he had tried to use it as a gag, which is exactly what he did with Betty.

I was just going to say to Burns, the scene clearly looked very much like the Betty Allen scene immediately.

Yeah. Uh, there was no sign of forced entry. the bottle of aspirin on the table. The apartment had been ransacked and looted.

Same bindings. Yeah. The only difference was in this case, Katherine Papus had fought her attacker with every ounce of energy she had in her and for that she was likely killed.

Yeah. They thought like she fought so hard that he just like lost it. Right. Now, investigators interviewed John, who was an owner of a small coffee import business, and he told them he had been at work when his wife was killed, which was confirmed by several of his employees. And John told detectives he and Catherine had met in Egypt, where she had grown up, and they had married just two years earlier. Since their marriage, Catherine moved to America and spent most of her time volunteering with their church, where she taught Sunday school, and she just kept up with domestic responsibility. She's just like a stay at home wife.

Very 40s. Yeah. According to John, he returned home around 10 p.m. that night and rang the bell. And he explained that because his wife was new to the country, she was a little anxious and uncomfortable about being alone, especially when she was home alone, which is smart.

I'm I've lived here my whole [ __ ] life and I'm anxious when I'm home alone. So, what's what's so kind of him is he got in the habit of ringing the bell when he arrived so that she wouldn't be frightened by him just entering the apartment.

Oh my god, that's adorable. Yeah. She didn't want him to hear she he didn't want her to hear the door open, like think somebody was coming, right? But that night after ringing the bell, he put his keys in the door and was surprised to find out that it wasn't locked.

Oh. And he was like, "That's not We don't leave this unlocked when she's there." So he went in the apartment and found it had been ransacked and he found Catherine dead in the broom, which is when he called the police.

That's so sad that she was so worried about being here in the first place. The one thing she was worried about happened

and it's like you do wonder if she felt some sense of that. Yeah. Like she could almost tell that something was impending.

Yeah. It's really I you hear this a lot in these cases and it's always fascinating

where it's somebody who's like really nervous or very anxious about being alone and so locks the door a lot or does whatever they knew and then they end up being the victim of these things and you're like

it's just so horrifying to me for someone to be that's their worst nightmare and it comes true.

Yeah. I mean the one thing they didn't want to happen comes true and you do like everything you can to avoid it.

It's I hate it. Yeah. So, when it was suggested that she might have been having an affair, which they of course brought up,

so rude. John flatly rejected the very idea, saying that she was an exceedingly proper woman who would never have done anything to compromise her reputation.

Also, we were in love. He's like also like she's my wife. Um, so also he was like they have a she has a very small so social circle, mostly people she knew from church and would have been really out of character for her to invite a stranger into their home under any circumstances.

So the medical examiner fixed Catherine's time of death between 11:00 a.m. and 300 p.m.

Basically, that's when she would have been home alone, like the bulk of when she would have been home alone. Uh when detectives asked the door man if he'd seen anyone unfamiliar that afternoon, he told them as he was arriving for his shift at 2:00 p.m. he did see a man with olive skin and dark hair leaving the building like he was in a hurry.

H Now investigators worked through the night to process the scene, which was really light on evidence and clues. And in the living room, they discovered several cigarette butts in the ashtray. And there was a brand that John and Catherine did not smoke.

Oh. So the discovery of all these cigarettes suggested that the killer had lingered in the home

smoked inside like a douchebag. Yeah. Of course it was a 40 so they all everybody smoking inside.

I was like yeah that was just normal. But this belief was supported by the presence of coffee cups on the table which indicated that Katherine had provided at least the int like like a coffee water and aspirin at the very least to this intruder.

Huh. Which is like out of character. Or maybe he made his own coffee there. Yeah. So, a little past 4:00 a.m., one of the investigators discovered a fingerprint on the water glass that didn't match Catherine.

Oh, I love it. Which, like, that's badass. I love 4 a.m. They're like, "Got it. They're going to run it through the database in the ' 40s."

Yeah, exactly. Fortunately, by 1941, uh, crime scene investigators had started carrying fingerprinting kits and they were able to take the fingerprints of everyone who had been at the scene since the body was discovered at the very least. Um, so having, you know, effectively ruled out everybody there, that meant the fingerprint almost certainly belonged to the killer because they they checked John's fingerprints as well. The print was rushed to Albany where the state fingerprint records were kept and a copy was also sent to the FBI in Washington DC for comparison. As soon as he saw the crime scene, Detective Ed Burns was convinced that this was the same person that attacked Betty Allen.

Mhm. Also, in the weeks since the attack in the Allen apartment, three other rape and robberies had occurred. Two in the Bronx and one in Washington Heights. And in each incident, the attacker had asked the woman for aspirin before attacking them. Since Since Anthony Litzy was in jail when the Papas murder and other attacks occurred, it was impossible that he was responsible for any of the crimes. So he was released from uh jail and det district attorney Samuel Foley admitted there was the possibility that the murder was committed by the same person.

Yeah, I would think so. Now detectives fanned out across the city interviewing the owners of various pawn and junk shops around the city hoping that the killer might have tried to, you know, sell some of the stolen jewelry, but by the end of the day they were really coming up with nothing. And at the same time, and honestly with remarkable speed at that, the results from the Albany fingerprint analysis came back and unfortunately the print found on the water glass wasn't a match for any of the prints on file. Two days passed since the murder of Katherine Papus, and in that time, investigators best evidence had gone nowhere and there were no new leads.

So super frustrated, Burns and the other detectives returned to the earliest case, which was the attack of Betty Allen. They were certain that there was something in that case that was going to lead them to the killer. Betty and her husband were called back to the precinct for another interview, and Betty told her story again. She wasn't ordinarily in the habit of letting strangers in her home or even opening the door for people she didn't know, but she said the young man just seemed to know a great deal about her husband, including the route he drove as a delivery driver.

Yeah. So, he assumed she she assumed he was telling the truth. He knew all that information.

So, he's like watching people. So when they first interviewed following the attack, both Betty and her husband were adamant that they didn't know anyone who matched the description of who attacked Betty.

And neither of them had any idea how the man knew all these details about them. And Betty reiterated this during the follow-up interview. But when they asked Betty's husband the same question, his story changed. This time he explained that just a few days before the attack, he did pick up a hitchhiker while he was on a delivery route in Connecticut. And while they drove, the man told a familiar story. He had been raised in Boytown, Nebraska after both his parents died, and he was on his way to visit his sister in New York because she was sick and needed help.

The story played on Betty's husband's sympathy. So, he gave the young man a few dollars, but the hitchhiker insisted that he pay him back. So, Mr. Allen gave him their address in the Bronx.

Oh, so he didn't want to like say that originally, which I get. That's That's rough. He was probably embarrassed and felt so guilty

that he was being so like blindly trustworthy. That's rough. Now, at the time, Betty identified Anthony Litzy as their attacker. So, her husband didn't mention the hitchhiker because it didn't seem relevant.

Yeah. Although it definitely [ __ ] It definitely was. He was That's how he saw it. By the time they got around to the second interview with the Allens, the story had become familiar to the Bronx detectives, having heard it from three other victims. In each case, the incidents seem to go in more or less the same way. The young man shows up at the door while the woman is home alone. He claimed to have borrowed money from their husbands, and he even mentions growing up in Boytown. They all still told the same story.

In each case, he asked for an aspirin and a glass of water. And that's when he makes his way into the apartment, and he attacks the woman, tying them up with his necktie and whatever else he could find. And then he ransacks the apartment, stealing whatever valuables he could find before wiping the fingerprints off the glass and fleeing the scene. Same thing each time. Now, in each of the four cases, the attacker had been picked up hitchhiking either in Connecticut or New York. And a few days later, he would show up at the victim's apartment. So, to Detective Burns, it seemed entirely reasonable that if there were four victims that they knew about, it was pretty possible there could be more either in the Bronx or one of the other burrows. Operating on that hunch, he put out a message to all the precincts across the five burrows, and he asked for any cases that were similar to these attacks on Allen and the other

victims. It's unknown what type of response Ed Burns was hoping for, but whatever it was, it probably pald in comparison to the incredible response he received back.

Okay. Now, within a few hours, investigators received a call from police in Manhattan regarding a case that was really [ __ ] similar to the one in the Bronx. The couple was brought into the Bronx precinct and the husband explained that he had picked up a hitchhiker who told him his name was Jerry Shanner. He told him he'd grown up in Boytown and was trying to get to New York to visit his sister who he'd recently I think the sister had broken her leg in this instance and needed help getting around.

He probably just got tired of saying the exact same thing. You switch it up a little.

Just a tiny bit. Yeah. Like Betty's husband, the man gave him a few dollars and the hitchhiker insisted he wanted to pay him back, so he got their address.

Mhm. It's just like a bunch of dudes that are trying to be nice, but just giving out their home address. Like, god damn.

A few days later, Jerry Shaner showed up at the door when the man was at work, explained the whole thing, and he seemed trustworthy, and the wife felt sorry for him, so she invited him in and offered him some lunch.

This is such a wild way to go about things. Hitchhiking with their husbands first, and then like he infiltrates the entire family

and praying on their goodness, like full goodness. He's tra fully praying on their trustworthiness cuz he's this person is picking you up, giving you money,

and then giving you their address. You show up and then pray on the wife who's like, "Do you want to come in for lunch?" Like nice people trying to be nice. Yeah.

So, after eating the sandwich that she had prepared for him, Shaner said he had a terrible headache and asked if she could spare some aspirin. When she returned with the pills, that's when he attacked her. He tied her up. He sexually assaulted her. He looted the apartment. He then wiped down anything he touched and left. The call from Manhattan was just the first of many, many, many more calls. And by the end of the day, investigators were flooded with calls from precincts all over New York City with cases that were nearly identical to those in the Bronx.

The attacker went by many aliases, uh, Jerry Shaner, Jerry Mitchell, George Mitchell, George Mundy, George Blake, and others, but the details were literally all the same. The boytown thing, showing up looking for aspirin, attack, assault, wipe off, leave,

all of the above. In 1941, police precincts and districts operated more or less as like independent entities basically, despite being like a larger, you know, the NYPD. This had much to do with the limited communication technology as it did the limited regions they were responsible for. But as a result, they like rarely communicated with one another unless a case really required it. As a result, investigators all over New York had no idea they were pursuing the same person in multiple cases across the city right now.

Oh, dang. Once detectives in the Bronx started pulling together all the cases though, a bigger picture of what was going on and how surprising this one was coming into view. By plotting this all the cases on a map, Burns and the other investigators were able to identify 31 cases going back 9 months all with the same memo.

Wow. There was a noticeable pattern in the movements like he would catch rides from drivers in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, or New Jersey and travel into the city. Once there, he would commit three or four assaults and then he would leave the city and the cycle would start over again.

All right. Yeah. Now, operating on the assumption that if the attacker could have caught rides in the states around New York, it was pretty possible he could have come from further away, right?

Investigators put out a bulletin to eight states on the East Coast, stretching as far as Maine and New Orleans.

Wow. Asking their fellow detectives to quote, "Make a careful check of files for a man who gains entrance by subtuge." claiming to know the husband. After gaining admittance and gaining women's confidence, he mugs uh some by applying soiled handkerchief to some's mouth, then ties hands and feet with necktie and steal money and jewelry. In the same bulletin, they included descriptions of Katherine Papus' missing jewelry and asked pawn shop owners and jewelers to also be on the lookout in those places.

They're doing like a really good job with this. Yeah, they really are. Meanwhile, detectives reached out to Father Edward Flanigan, the founder of Boytown.

Oh. Who explained that he didn't know anyone who fit the description of the man they were looking for. He did, however, explained that he had received several postcards in recent months from men whose names he didn't recognize, and he offered to hand them over if it would help.

That's strange. In their interviews with the victims and their husbands, many reported that the hitchhiker had gone as far as writing out and sending postcards to Flanigan while in their presence.

So to make his story more believable basically send them is so strange. So this man is man is making up these aliases and then he sits down after telling the story and like writes out the postcard so they feel like he's telling the truth and then like you said is actually sending them to you could go to that trouble to make the roomable but to which is also weird but to send them is like a whole other level.

Yeah. So, while they assumed the names on the cards were all aliases, Burns and the other investigators thought at the very least that the postcards could provide them with a handwriting sample. In fact, when they received a post the postcards from Flanigan, they were all signed with aliases or simply the mayor.

The mayor. Yeah. Buffy the Vampire. Oh, I love that character. Same. But an analysis of the cards found that the handwriting belonged to the same person. Uh, in the two weeks after the release of the bulletin, the Bronx precinct received a second flood of reports from surrounding states, all reporting cases that match the MMO. Although the victims in all cases are different in age, race, and body type, the details of the attack are nearly identical. And investigators added an additional 50 victims to their list.

Oh my god. Which was an average of one attack every 3 days. Holy. Yeah. So, who the [ __ ] is this person that has all the time in the world to just hitchhike around and kill everybody?

I'm saying like what are you doing? What are you doing? Where do you come from?

That's the thing. They're like, "Who the [ __ ] is this thing? Why do you have a job?"

Now, among the worst aspects of the aspirin bandit attacks was definitely the physical and psychological trauma that the victims were experiencing. But nearly as bad was the ways in which the victims were ret-raumatized in the days and weeks after the attack. In nearly all the cases, the attacker was only able to commit the assaults because the woman's husbands gave him their addresses.

But because they had limited ability to cope with the intense feelings of guilt and shames that caused, they frequently projected their feelings onto their wives, blaming them for the attacks by suggesting they'd done something to encourage the man.

The 40s. Then in a sense, the victims found themselves in a catch22 situation. If they found their fought their attacker as Katherine Papus had, they could end up dead. But if they didn't fight back hard enough, then they were blamed for their assault. Nice to be a I love being a woman.

Oh, how I just love being a woman. Damn. I'd rather be a fairy. Now, on February 10th,

she was a fairy. On February 10th, as Burns and the other detectives continued trying to piece together the timeline of events and track the killer's movements, they received a call from a couple in Heightstown, New Jersey. According to this couple, they had picked up a young man hitchhiking a few days earlier. And after hearing the story about how he'd grown up in Boytown, they felt sorry for him and offered to let him stay with them for a couple of days. The following morning though, the couple woke up and found that he had stolen a bunch of valuable [ __ ] from their house. Whole place was ransacked and the hitchhiker was gone. So both the husband and wife were artists and the woman offered to draw a detailed sketch of the hitchhiker.

That is so [ __ ] cool. Isn't that awesome? From memory. That is so cool. And when investigators took the sketch to several of the victims, they all confirmed that is like 100% the guy. That is the coolest [ __ ] way to be that woman and be like, "God damn it, you just stole all my [ __ ] and like out of the goodness of my heart I let you in." But then to be like, "You know what? I'm an artist and you didn't count on me do rendering a sketch from memory.

You didn't count on me having a [ __ ] skill of your [ __ ] ass face." Yeah, that's right. Like, [ __ ] that guy.

Iconic. So, thanks to the couple in Heightstown, detectives now knew what their suspect looked like. And thanks to the dedicated police work and constant communication across precincts and even So rare.

Yeah. They had a general idea of how far he traveled and how frequently he cycled back through New York.

Unfortunately, what they didn't know was where he was and when he would strike again.

Yeah, that's tough. That meant that as much as it pained them to do so, they kind of had to wait until he attacked someone to find his location, which is a case a lot.

I was literally just going to say it's sad how that does happen a lot, but it's also like what else do you

don't know what else to do? It sucks. It's a real catch 22. Now, it turned out the next attack wasn't in New York at all, but in Washington, DC. On February 19th, DC police received a call about a potential break-in at an apartment, but the woman had managed to fight the man off before he was able to get inside. because they had been in communication with detectives in the Bronx. DC police suspected this was probably the aspirin bandit. So, they rushed to the apartment to try to catch him. When they got there, they found the victim in the company of the building superintendent who chased the wouldbe rapist up the stairs and onto the roof.

But by the time the officers got to the top of the building, the man had disappeared down the fire escape and was gone.

So, a little less than a week later on February 25th, another call came into the Bronx. this time from detectives in New York, New Jersey, where another rape/robery had been committed under similar circumstances. That report was followed by three more calls, all reporting similar attacks in New Jersey.

Jeez. So, by plotting the attacks on the map of the suspect's movements, investigators in the Bronx are able to track his movements and suspect he's making his way back into New York.

And this time, they were like, "We're going to catch this fucker." So, if their estimations were right, detectives in the Bronx expected their suspect to arrive back in the city on or around March 3rd, which is

[ __ ] badass that they were able to track him to be like, "He's coming back in here in March." Like March 3rd.

That is impressive. So, they set up checkpoints at every train and bus depot as well as every bridge and tunnel across the city.

I love to see that. anything coming into the city, stopping anyone who vaguely resembled the sketch.

Good for them, dear. At the same time, police officers flooded the city, checking every motel and hotel for new arrivals and showing front desk staff every sk the sketch. While they were there, they also checked the handwriting samples from the postcards sent to Flanigan against the hotel log books, but nothing was an obvious match.

But they got everything. They were going for it. So that evening, detectives on man Manhattan's west side stopped into the Mills Hotel, a place popular with like day laborers looking for a clean but like affordable place to stay for a short period of time.

Uh the emphasis on the short short. As they were sitting in the lobby, they noticed a man entered the hotel wearing the same blue green coat and bright yellow shoes described by many of the victims.

Bright yellow shoes. Get the [ __ ] out of here. Yeah, that's like a real That's a crime. Like bold of you to wear those.

I know. Bold of you to wear bright yellow shoes and try to be in Especially, yeah, especially when you're committing crimes.

Uh, and he strongly resembled the sketch that was provided by the couple in New Jersey. After the man registered with the clerk under the name George Koski,

George. George, he started up the stairs towards his room and one of the detectives rushed to the desk and compared the handwriting to the postcards, which appeared to be a match.

That is so [ __ ] cool. Such cool investigative work. I love it. However, when the detectives looked up at the register, the man was coming back down the stairs in the direction of the clerk's desk.

He said, "I'd like my 50 cents back. I just remembered I have to go to work at 1:00." So, not wanting to miss their opportunity, they seized the man by his arms and forced him to write his name again and again. The handwriting match.

Yeah. Which was, as far as they were concerned, reason to place him under arrest.

It was very strange that he was just like, "Oh, [ __ ] I forgot I have work today." I wonder if he knows, he was like, I think those might be detectives, so I should leave. Yeah,

cuz why else would you be like, why else would you? Well, never mind. Just kidding.

Once they had him in the interrogation room at the Brocks precinct, investigators learned that their suspect's name was not George Kowski, Jerry Mitchell, or George Mundy, but George Joseph Spec, a 23-year-old transient with a long criminal record. 23

23 and several stays at juvenile detention centers in his past. Uhoh. At the time of his arrest, police described him as a, and this is their description, quote, "A common road bum."

A common road bum. That is such a read. He's just a common road bum. Get out of here. Get out of here, you road bum.

You common road bum. You nasty node. You're not even common road bump. You're not even a unique road bum. You're common. You're You're a basic road bump.

A basic road bump. I am obsessed with that and I will be adding it to my vocabulary. Thank you.

I'm going to call everyone that pisses me off a common road bump. I'm No, I'm calling them a basic road bum. You Cuz here's the thing. You'll go you basic. And they're going to think that you're going to say [ __ ] but no. You're going to hit them with road bum.

You hit them. You hit someone with road bumps. Yeah, there ain't no coming back.

See it coming. They'll never in a million years see that coming. And they won't know what hit them.

And you know what? That's a little gift from us to you. Call them a big use it in your next argument.

There you go. You're welcome. Um yeah, he had no permanent address and no employment to speak of.

Road bug. So a brief look into George's background reveal revealed a rather unremarkable and directionless young man who'd made his way in the world through theft and other criminal activities.

Not great. George was born born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in a large and generally uh dysfunctional family.

Relatable. When he was 12 years old, George was caught robbing his own parents' house.

[ __ ] that's [ __ ] up. At 12. Yeah. And when his own mother tried to intervene, he beat her and continued robbing them.

What the [ __ ] He's a [ __ ] demon. Yeah, he's beyond road bum. Uh I wouldn't even I wouldn't even say he's a basic road bum. This goes far beyond road bummer.

Yeah, this go this goes far beyond road bummer. This is not just your typical day-to-day road bummer. This is different. It's so different. That really got you. This is just your your classic road bummer over here.

It's not. This is This is not This is um This is not You are correct. This is not classic road bubbery. I don't know what this is.

I don't know why that that word is just that phrase is so funny. I love it. It's just How can you not laugh at that?

Uh but either way, this this case of far beyond road bummer got him a short stay in a boy's reformatory, not Boytown.

They were like, "Don't beat your mom's house." Yeah, don't do that. And when he was released, he returned to his parents' home and attempted to rob them a second time.

Get out. Get out. Get out. Yeah. For a second robbery, he was returned to the reformatory. But that time, he was sentenced to 5 years. By the time he was released, George was old enough to be on his own and spent the next 5 years supporting himself through robbery and theft.

Yikes. When she was told about the news of her son's arrest, Barbara told a reporter, "He's my boy, and I don't want to see him die in the electric chair, but I don't feel too much sympathy for him. He's always been bad. He's always wanted to steal money and not work for it. I guess he's no good."

Oh, that's so sad. The end of that. I guess he's no good. It's literally devastating.

Oh, that poor mama. Yeah, it's not your fault, girl. I don't know that for sure, but it doesn't feel that way. I can't totally stand on that business cuz I don't know your life.

I'm like I'm five toes down on that. Yeah, there you go. Yeah. Now, when confronted with the accusations, George denied having anything to do with the Papus murder or the other sexual assaults and robberies in several states up and down the East Coast. But when investigators fingerprinted him and compared his prints to the print left behind at the Papus murder scene, they determined it was a match.

Oh, [ __ ] Despite the evidence linking him to the crime scene, George was like, "Nope, didn't do it." Until investigators put him in a lineup.

Oh. One after another, victims were brought into the station to view the grouping of six or seven men, including George.

And in 1941, there was no two-way glass or video monitoring systems. So, each victim was brought into a room and stood just a few feet from the man who violently sexually assaulted them. The bravery that that would take

that that's next level trauma on a level I can't even fathom. Good for those women.

Some looked him in the eye and firmly identified George as their attacker. Wow. Good for them.

And others broke down and could do nothing else but point at him. Yeah. Because that you're being retraumatized like you just said.

Every single one of them identified George as their rapist. Wow. Also, while most of their husbands were able to provide moral support to their wives during this horrible moment, at least one victim's husband lost his composure and tried to attack George before he was physically removed by the room. And I say, why'd you physically remove him from the room?

Snaps for that, man. Snaps to that, man. Honestly, if my husband didn't try to beat his ass, we'd get in the fight later.

Honestly, like, good for that guy. Yeah, I know violence is not the answer to anything. Like, I get it. I get it. But I mean sometimes like

I'm sorry if somebody is if if I'm a husband and somebody violently raped my wife.

Violence is the answer. I'm gonna hurt for a minute. For a quick moment for a minute.

Just a quick old one two to the face, you know, a quick little boop. Now before being confronted and identified by at least a dozen of his victims.

Wow. George had been confident to the point of [ __ ] cockiness. Ew. Of course. Of course.

23-year-old [ __ ] But at some point during the lineup, it must have come clear to him that uh he wasn't getting out of this. By the end of the lineup, George had lost any hint of his previous cockiness. And in the early morning hours of March 4th, he broke down and confessed to attacking at least 15 of the more than 80 suspected victims.

And don't forget, that's insane. And don't forget, he's not just a rapist, he's a murderer.

Oh yeah. And he confessed as well to murdering Katherine Papus. Yeah. So, he's a piece of absolute [ __ ] garbage.

Garbage. In their interview, George confirmed what police had already learned about him. Most of his victims were women whose husbands he had met while hitchhiking and using his charm in ingratiating manner. He would get enough information from them to sound convincing when he showed up at their door a few days later.

And he really did. When it came to the attack on Katherine Papus, however, he changed his usual approach. On that day, George had happened to stop into the building and look over the names on the mailboxes and decided to take what he described as a blind stab by ringing the couple's doorbell.

What? So, she was chosen at random. And he told investigators, "She told me she had been making cookies for her husband and offered me some."

And your doesn't make you want to [ __ ] ring his neck. Yeah, that's the thing. Your [ __ ] ass went in there and took her life. this woman who is literally spending her afternoon making cookies for her husband and she's the one who made him a sandwich right?

Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Wow. You piece of dog [ __ ] Yep. He said, "I sat beside her on the sofa. I slipped my arm around her neck and pulled her head back. Then with my right hand, I removed my neck tie and tied her hands behind her back. I carried her to the bedroom and put her on the bed." Why? Once they were in the bedroom, Catherine began fighting back hard and even managed to bite George's finger, leaving a wound that was still visible upon his arrest nearly a month later.

Good. She broke [ __ ] skin. I hope it hurt for the rest of his life and actually into the afterlife as well.

George claimed that he eventually clamped his hands around her neck to keep her from screaming and a few minutes later he just realized that she was dead. He's literally claiming that he accidentally strangled her manually.

We've all been over this. We know how long it takes to strangle someone manually. We know how much pressure needs to be consistently put upon someone's neck to manually strangle them. You don't accidentally do that.

It's like 7 minutes long. Yeah, you don't do it. [ __ ] get out of here. At that point, he rummaged through the apartment, grabbed whatever he could, but because he was panicked, he forgot to wipe down the water glass, and left behind the fingerprints. idiot.

District Attorney Samuel Foley told reporters following his arraignment that poor woman never got a chance to scream.

No. Now, despite being able to convincingly link George to dozens of other sexual assault victims, District Attorney Foley chose to pursue only the murder charge in the case of Katherine Papus. Because the murder charge was a capital offense and the prosecutor was seeking the death penalty. So, if he were to be found guilty, George would be paying the ultimate price with or without the additional charges. In the months after this, as the district attorney built the case, George began speaking to any members of the press who would listen, primarily to minimize his responsibility and reject the claims of additional victims. Um, he asked a reporter, "Those stories about me attacking 15 or 23 women, where do they come from?"

Uh, that you attacked 23 to 50 women. Yeah, they come from um the reality. They come from what? Your [ __ ] actions, your [ __ ] made actions. He said, "You got me identified by a lot of women. I ain't never seen threearters of them in my life." You did immediately upon that statement. How that's phrased. You did it.

Uhhuh. Yep. You did it. George's trial began in midappril. And he maintained his defiant stance from beginning to end.

What a doucheb. Before the final members of the jury had even been selected, George was admonished by the judge after he jumped to his feet and shouted at the judge, "You're supposed to be sitting on this case. Mind your own business." after the judge questioned his lawyer for his methods of interviewing potential members of the jury.

Make that make sense for me. You're supposed to be sitting on this case. So he's like, "Here you are doing your job, which is being in my business of all the [ __ ] that I've committed." And he says, "Mind your" The judge is like, "This is all of my business."

He's like, "This is literally my courtroom." Not like like this is my actual business. Like I get paid for this. like I'm in the business of this of judging yourself of all this

quite literally like what and I love it because in response George uh judge James Bartlett just stared at him.

Oh, I love it. And then sternly said I will not tolerate such outbursts. This is the first and last outbursts you will make.

He treated him like the child he was. You little baby man. He said you petulent [ __ ]

You pet petulent little [ __ ] child. that part. A week into the trial, the entire case had to be put on hold when Judge Bartlett fell asleep dur under a sun lamp for about two hours and suffered a particularly bad burn. I was really rooting for him just now and I feel different. I I feel a little bit different. Um, I really went so hard for him just now and I'd like to maybe back that up like a a teeny bit. Just like just a hair. Just just a little hair.

Just like a beep beep, you know? Just what? My guy. Why? What? Idiot. What do you mean, babe?

What do you mean? You got to stay awake under the sun lamp. Yeah. I mean, now these days, don't be going under sun lamp. Don't go. Don't you [ __ ] go tanning.

My guy OBZ tax for a reason. Don't do it. Do you remember when Snookie was so [ __ ] personally angry at Obama for that?

I don't want you guys to get melanoma. No, spray tan. I don't want that. You want to be tan? I mean, like, cool. Spray tan.

Yeah, spray tan. They got the mits now. They got I think they have like natural [ __ ] that's like not even like cuz I mean other [ __ ] chemically bad. But

do you remember were you ever a Jurgens girly? Jurgens, I think it's natural glow.

Here's the thing about me. You've never wanted to be tan. No, I did at one point. I really wanted to be tan, but then I realized I'm not meant to be tan. So, I did try that Jurgens journey for like a minute and a half and then I realized like this isn't it.

Here's the thing. Even when they smell good for like a second and I'm sorry if you self-tan, but I've tried it too. I've also wanted to be tan. Yeah,

you smell like chicken. There is a chicken smell. Smell like chicken. Self tan smells like chicken.

There is a little bit of a chickeny smell. There is. You are correct about that.

You could mask it, I guess. But like I don't know. I never certainly smell to it. But I think there's like m there's like natural ones now that probably don't have that chickeny smell.

Yeah, cuz I think a lot of girlies are getting like good spray tans. Some giries are getting good spray tans.

Whenever I did a spray tan, one, I looked absolutely [ __ ] bonkers. And two, um it always made my hands look weird.

Yeah, I would get it between my fingers. Yeah, but some girls have that [ __ ] masked.

That's the thing. Those are the queens out here. Which like I was gonna say, you're queens if you can do that.

You know who's not a king out here. Yeah, the judge. Sleep under the sunlight. And do it responsibly if you're

I really can't believe I went so hard for him. Uh yeah, but you know what? Two weeks later, the trial had resumed. So he got he got over that little speed bump.

Yeah. That big old burn. He came back with like such a glow. I was literally going to say they said, "Your honor, may I may I You're glowing.

May I?" And he said, "I almost died." Yeah. He said it was it was a real journey to get here. wasn't a good sleep.

It was a real journey to get this glow. He said, "This glow, you don't want it.

Don't come for free." Now, despite having already been warned by the judge about his own outbursts, uh George proved to be incredibly difficult from the moment the trial began. Uh in fact, when he finally took the stand in his own defense, he refused to answer nearly all the questions put to him by the prosecution.

Then why go on the stand, my [ __ ] guy? He just chose to sit petulently on the witness stand with his elbows on the railing and his chin cuped in his hand.

Oh, what a little [ __ ] Finally, after countless questions had been asked and unanswered, George told the prosecutor, "It's no use continuing with those questions. I refuse to answer them. I told you I killed her. I want to take my punishment. It's only a question of first or second degree murder."

So, he doesn't give a [ __ ] Wow. They don't give him first degree. I was when I was reading this, I was like, "Motherfucker, if they don't give him firstdegree murder

Yeah. I'll fight. I'mma head out. I'll fight. I'mma head back in time." Yeah. And then head out.

And then head out. Uh, and with that, the prosecution rested its case against George. And the jury was excused for deliberation. So, they deliberated for less than a half hour cuz he literally sat on the stand and said, "I killed her. Get over it." He literally did Courtney from from [ __ ] Jawbreaker. He said, "I killed Liz. I killed the teen dream. Deal with it." That's what That's literally what he said. He literally did that.

[ __ ] up. Then he was like, "Now it's just first or second." Which I'm like, "Did you think you were getting second?

You literally said I killed her." Like you did you really just think that you were going to you had any chance of getting second after that?

Well, everything all the all the [ __ ] you went through like you it was very much premeditated.

You literally planned the entire thing. So they come back into the courtroom after less than a half hour and they found him guilty of first-degree murder for causing the death of Katherine Papus. Um, when the ver verdict was read, the ever defiant George said nothing and just stared coldly at the judge. When asked by reporters for a comment, District Attorney Samuel Foley said, "This man is a contemptable liar. George has continuously tried to evade the responsibility for what he did in Bronx County on February 4th. He is even low enough to bismerch the name of the woman whose life he has taken."

The following day, George was back before Judge Bartlett Bart uh Barrett, excuse me, who set an execution date for July 7th, 1941. After the customary appeals and small delays, 24year-old George Spec was executed in the electric chair at Sing Prison on February 26th, 1942. Rest in distress, you petulant [ __ ] made road bum. Common road bum. basic road bummer.

Just a basic common road bum. Wow, that's a I can't I've never heard of that. It is such it's I think I almost think we need to like name it something instead of the aspirin bandit because it just does not give the full scope.

Well, because it's so much more that he's a rapist. He's not just a bandit. So, I think we'll name it something different, but it's called the Aspirin Bandit case.

Yeah. Like it's well known as that. The communication between the different precincts in different states

and the detective work like in the 40s the investigative work that went into this was topn like this is one of those that you go

hats off there it is like that's what I'm looking for cuz we have so many that you're just like what the [ __ ] and then this one you're like [ __ ] yeah investigators

I love the ones where we can we can hats off to them cuz they really went for it

because it it gives you like a little bit of hope and humanity when like you're hearing about all these terrible murders and you rapes and everything like that's awful.

Yeah. You're like at least these people like went full tilt to catch this guy and they did. It paid off. This [ __ ] didn't get far. He was only 23 years old.

Here's the thing about it was worth it about practicing um basic road bummer. You'll always get caught. You're going to get caught.

You're far too basic to to make it. Your road bummer will come to a violent end. So,

but yeah, that's the aspirin bandit. What a crazy case. Yeah. Well, guys, if you're coming to the show or you did already on Sunday, it was so much fun. And also, I can't wait to see you.

Yeah, both simultaneously. At the same time. So, that's what simultaneous is. Yeah.

Well, we also hope you keep listening simultaneously and at the same time. And we hope you

keep it weird simultaneously and at the same time. Don't be a classic road bum. Don't practice that road bummer.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Episode 713: The Horrific Crimes of the Aspirin Bandit"?

Ash (Host), Elena (Host), Morgan (Host).

What is "Episode 713: The Horrific Crimes of the Aspirin Bandit" about?

The discussion centers around the infamous "Aspirin Bandit," a criminal known for committing a series of shocking crimes. The hosts reflect on their recent live show experience and share their excitement and gratitude for the audience's support, while also lightheartedly recalling minor hiccups during the event.

What is mentioned in this Morbid | Podcast episode?

24 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Aspirin Bandit, George Joseph Spec, Catherine Papus, Betty Allen, Detective Ed Burns, Murder. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Episode 713: The Horrific Crimes of the Aspirin Bandit"?

The episode runs 59 min; the transcript is about 12,133 words in 317 timestamped sections.

More from Morbid | Podcast

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.