Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of
Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all
Speaker 1: of these amazing tales right there on display, just waiting
Speaker 1: for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
Speaker 1: In the nineteen eighties, America fell under a dark spell.
Speaker 1: I know because I was there. Neighbor accused neighbor of
Speaker 1: worshiping the devil, while parents fretted over their children playing
Speaker 1: such demonic games as dungeons and dragons. The Satanic Panic,
Speaker 1: as it came to be called, was the result of
Speaker 1: faulty psychology and fears of abuse allegedly being perpetrated by
Speaker 1: members of the occult. That fear spread across the US,
Speaker 1: but it had rooted itself deepest inside Ralph P. Forbes
Speaker 1: of London, Arkansas. Now it's fair to say that Ralph
Speaker 1: had a bit of a problematic past. When he was
Speaker 1: younger and living in California, he registered as a member
Speaker 1: of the American Nazi Party founded by George Lincoln Rockwell.
Speaker 1: Forbes had actually worked his way up fairly high in
Speaker 1: the operation as a rally organizer, so much so that
Speaker 1: Rockwell himself had given him the task of establishing a
Speaker 1: Christian identity group, a type of hate group with misguided
Speaker 1: notions about the Bible. But that was the nineteen sixties,
Speaker 1: a wild time for many Americans, even though Forbes had
Speaker 1: ignored the flower power of the Hippies, instead choosing the
Speaker 1: bigotry of the Nazi Party. He eventually left Rockwell's group
Speaker 1: and started referring to himself as a former Nazi, despite
Speaker 1: turning around and working alongside KKK Grand Wizard David Duke.
Speaker 1: Once a bigot's always a bigot, I guess. But there
Speaker 1: had been a thorn in four side for a long time.
Speaker 1: It tormented him every year, and worse, it had captured
Speaker 1: children all over the country in its fiendish claus, leading
Speaker 1: them ever closer to the dark side. And this profound
Speaker 1: evil that Ralph was worried about Halloween. He'd been running
Speaker 1: for a seat in the United States Senate in nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty six when he decided to take measures into his
Speaker 1: own hands. On October thirtieth of that year, days before
Speaker 1: the election, Forbes filed a lawsuit against the person that
Speaker 1: he deemed responsible for corrupting the nation's youth. Satan, the
Speaker 1: wannabee senator named three plaintiffs in his suit, all Christian children,
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, and of course himself. As for the defendants,
Speaker 1: Satan was only one of several. Forbes also listed the
Speaker 1: Arkansas Department of Education and I quote high priests of
Speaker 1: secular humanism. The case found its way onto the docket
Speaker 1: of Judge George Howard Junior. Howard would go on to
Speaker 1: play a part in the Whitewater Ill Estate trial of
Speaker 1: the nineteen nineties, which involved President Bill Clinton and First
Speaker 1: Lady Hillary Clinton. That case was subsequently lead to the
Speaker 1: president's impeachment in nineteen ninety eight. But in nineteen eighty six,
Speaker 1: Judge Howard was overseeing the trial of the Century between
Speaker 1: Ralph Forbes and the Prince of Darkness, and representing Satan
Speaker 1: on this day in courts was Attorney John Wesley Hall Junior,
Speaker 1: who had decided to take on the case pro bono.
Speaker 1: According to an article in the Los Angeles Times from
Speaker 1: November of that year, Hall argued that, and again this
Speaker 1: is a quote. The devil doesn't do enough business in
Speaker 1: Arkansas end quote, and therefore should be dropped from the suit.
Speaker 1: In addition, Satan owned no property and committed no chorts
Speaker 1: against the state. But perhaps Hall's greatest argument was that
Speaker 1: any legal dispute between Jesus Christ and Satan couldn't be
Speaker 1: litigated in federal court because it was a First Amendment issue.
Speaker 1: He went out to claim that Halloween was not a
Speaker 1: holiday about or in support of devil. It had been
Speaker 1: adapted from a New Year's festival years before and was
Speaker 1: now celebrated in the United States as a secular holiday. Well,
Speaker 1: clearly mister Hall was good at his job, or maybe
Speaker 1: the plaintiff just didn't have much of a case to
Speaker 1: begin with, because the whole thing just kind of fizzled out,
Speaker 1: much like Forbes's political career. In addition to embarrassing himself
Speaker 1: in federal court, he also lost his race for the
Speaker 1: Senate and a presidential bid a decade later. Ralph Forbes
Speaker 1: didn't accomplish much during his life. He was a Nazi,
Speaker 1: a failed politician, and now a laughing stock in the
Speaker 1: Arkansas legal system. Maybe if he'd spent less time worrying
Speaker 1: about silly dress up holidays, he would have seen the
Speaker 1: real evil living rights under his nose. It was a
Speaker 1: beautiful day for a wedding. It's just a shame that
Speaker 1: the marriage would end in only a few days. On
Speaker 1: April twenty first of nineteen oh nine, Percy Redwood and
Speaker 1: Agnes Ottaway were married in Port Molineau, New Zealand. The
Speaker 1: Ottaway family house, usually used as a popular boarding house,
Speaker 1: had turned into the most picturesque wedding venue, and it
Speaker 1: really was a show stopping event. Local papers gushed about
Speaker 1: the fine wine and champagne served at the reception. The
Speaker 1: local MP, along with two hundred other neighbors and friends,
Speaker 1: showed up to celebrate. The groom's family didn't ever make it,
Speaker 1: but that faux pas was easy for the guests to
Speaker 1: forget about as they watched him shower his bride with jewelry, silver,
Speaker 1: and other expensive gifts. He was someone who could afford
Speaker 1: to spoil his new wife, and he made sure everyone
Speaker 1: knew it. Percy Redwood had made his fortune as a
Speaker 1: successful Canterbury sheep farmer. He hadn't been in Port Molina
Speaker 1: for long, but he had quickly won over his new
Speaker 1: neighbors with both his money and his charm. He was,
Speaker 1: by all accounts, wonderful. Addition, to the town. His wealth,
Speaker 1: of course, meant that he only had the best manners.
Speaker 1: It also meant that he had the very best suits,
Speaker 1: and the very best stories and the most interesting letters
Speaker 1: of business from all over New Zealand. He was a
Speaker 1: small man, but his diminutive size and rather high pitched
Speaker 1: voice didn't exactly make for a commanding presence. But when
Speaker 1: have the rich ever needed to cut an impressive figure
Speaker 1: to make friends for people in this small community, Percy
Speaker 1: was a very exciting newcomer, and it didn't take long
Speaker 1: for the daughter of the local guesthouse owner, Agnes Ottaway,
Speaker 1: to notice him, or for him to notice her. The
Speaker 1: two quickly developed a friendship that blossomed into love. When
Speaker 1: he proposed with an expensive five diamond rings, she immediately accepted,
Speaker 1: and after news of their engagement spread, Percy's mother wrote
Speaker 1: to Agnes's saying that she would give the young couple
Speaker 1: four five hundred dollars so they could settle easily into
Speaker 1: their new marital home. Agnes, elated, prepared herself for a
Speaker 1: comfortable life as the wife of a wealthy businessman. The
Speaker 1: wedding went off without a hitch. It was only afterwards
Speaker 1: that things began to sour. After the reception, one of
Speaker 1: the groomsmen walked Percy to the newlywed suite. He was
Speaker 1: astonished when he watched Percy put his pajamas on over
Speaker 1: his wedding clothes. Of course, most rich men have a
Speaker 1: few eccentricities, right, This was probably just one of those quirks,
Speaker 1: or maybe not, because things got weirder and weirder in
Speaker 1: the days after the wedding. You see, that extravagant wedding
Speaker 1: hadn't been paid for upfront. Instead, Percy had gotten everything
Speaker 1: on credit, promising to pay all the vendors back after
Speaker 1: the big day, And after that day had come and gone,
Speaker 1: the money never materialized. Agnes's father, suspicious of the grumblings
Speaker 1: around town that Percy wasn't paying anyone back, made it
Speaker 1: clear that he would not consider the marriage valid until
Speaker 1: Percy could prove that he was financially stable. The couple's
Speaker 1: honeymoon to Melbourne was delayed as Percy's good standing in
Speaker 1: the commune unity unraveled. Creditors traped in and out of
Speaker 1: the Ottaway house looking for the money they were owed.
Speaker 1: People started going to the police when the money didn't materialize,
Speaker 1: and it all came to a head when four days
Speaker 1: after the wedding, a detective and a constable showed up
Speaker 1: at their door. When Percy greeted them, the detective said, well,
Speaker 1: he said something very very unexpected. You are Amy Bach,
Speaker 1: and I arrest you on a charge of fraud. It
Speaker 1: was absurd, but Percy didn't deny it. Instead, he simply replied,
Speaker 1: I see you know all you see he was actually
Speaker 1: a she. Percy Redwood's real name was Amy Bach, and
Speaker 1: she was a woman. And it turns out that she
Speaker 1: had been a prolific fraudster for most of her life.
Speaker 1: All of the letters that Amy Bach had allegedly received
Speaker 1: while in Portmolino, letters from her wealthy mother or letters
Speaker 1: making important business offers, had all been fake. Everything she
Speaker 1: had bought since arriving in town had been purchased on credit,
Speaker 1: and none of it had been paid for. Yet Amy
Speaker 1: was broke. In fact, she was drowning in debt. A
Speaker 1: life of running from the law had not been kind
Speaker 1: to her wallet. She had never tried to marry into
Speaker 1: money before. That was a new scheme. Really. Amy had
Speaker 1: started small, just lying about how much money she had
Speaker 1: buying things on credits, and then disappearing. She had been
Speaker 1: convicted of fraud numerous times throughout the years as she
Speaker 1: bounced from city to city. She had even been sent
Speaker 1: to prison several times for conning people out of their money,
Speaker 1: but that never stopped her. Her scams had gotten bolder
Speaker 1: and bolder over the years, though at one point she
Speaker 1: had talked her way into owning a chicken farm. That
Speaker 1: another she had convinced the Salvation Army to lend her money,
Speaker 1: which she used to buy a house. Unfortunately, her years
Speaker 1: of scheming eventually attracted a more intense police scrutiny than
Speaker 1: she had ever had before, and now the law had
Speaker 1: finally tracked her down, Recognizing her particular brand of fraud,
Speaker 1: which I suppose could be some as leaving a huge
Speaker 1: number of people high and dry. The detective and constable
Speaker 1: who had found her arrested her and that Amy was
Speaker 1: taken to the Dunedin Supreme Court to await her trial.
Speaker 1: The Ottaway family, of course, was shocked that their daughter's
Speaker 1: new groom was actually a bride, but Agnes's father, who
Speaker 1: didn't seem all that torn up about the arrest, was
Speaker 1: reported to have said, well it might have been worse.
Speaker 1: Amy of course pled guilty to all the charges, and
Speaker 1: she was sent to prison for three years. Agnes Ottaway,
Speaker 1: who claimed that she had no way of knowing that
Speaker 1: her husband was actually a woman, applied for an annulment.
Speaker 1: Thankfully for her, it was granted and she went on
Speaker 1: to Bury twice more before she died in nineteen thirty six.
Speaker 1: Amy was released from prison three years after her conviction,
Speaker 1: and she returned to the outside world as Amy Bach,
Speaker 1: not as Percy Redwood. Amy never went back to prison
Speaker 1: after the Redwood debacle, but she also never gave up
Speaker 1: on her little scams at cons Thankfully for the local
Speaker 1: single population, she refrained from marrying anyone else aner false pretenses,
Speaker 1: but even so she was occasionally appearing in the New
Speaker 1: Zealand courts for fraud until she was seventy one years old.
Speaker 1: And that's, my friends, is what we hear call curious.
Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet
Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn
Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com.
Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership
Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show
Speaker 1: called Lore which is a podcast, book series, and television
Speaker 1: show and you can learn all about it over at
Speaker 1: the worldolore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.