A mother. A bathtub. A death ruled suspicious.

In 2012, Lisa Cutler was found drowned in her Mount Zion, Illinois home while her children slept upstairs.

At first, it looked like an accident.

But more than 20 bruises… a failing marriage… and over a million dollars in life insurance told a different story.

Was it a tragic fall— or something far more deliberate?

Check out our new American Hauntings Podcast Network for even more spooky shows.

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John Torrio was ready when the new Prohibition law went into effect, but he seemed to be the only one. He was waiting impatiently for everyone else to catch up. He’d been predicting Prohibition to his friends and business associates for months and knew it would be how organized crime could amass untold amounts of wealth. To take something that had always been legal, and make it illegal, especially a vice like alcohol, and then expect Americans to adhere to the letter of the law was incredibly naïve. Torrio knew that by taking advantage of Prohibition, it was a way for people like himself to become millionaires.

Check out our new American Hauntings Podcast Network for even more spooky shows.

Have a question or comment? Text us on the Haunt Line @ 217-791-7859

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This episode was written by Troy Taylor

Produced and edited by Cody Beck

The strange and sometimes sinister world of America’s homegrown religions, faith movements, and cults is filled with bizarre characters. There are many that most listeners have undoubtedly heard of, but what about the cult leader who actually became a king?

In 1847, the only man ever crowned king within the continental United States began his rule from a secluded island in Lake Michigan. James Jesse Strang was a religious leader, politician, attorney, teacher, writer, and newspaper editor, who attracted more than 2,500 followers to a place that he ruled with an iron hand.

After being ejected from the Mormon Church, he created his own sect, for which he served as prophet, seer, and revelator and built an organization that he hoped would rival the church of Brigham Young in Utah.

But his strange adventures as a church leader and king would eventually lead to his assassination and the fall of the only kingdom that’s ever existed within the United States.