This week on Bad Elizabeth we look at a very special relationship between twin sisters, and a very complicated murder.

In 1992, Betty Wilson and her twin sister Peggy Lowe were both put on trial for murder, accused of plotting to kill Peggy's opthalmologist husband Dr. Jack Wilson, who was found in a puddle of blood on the landing in his house, with an aluminum bat next to his body.

This case was front-page news in Alabama, where the crime was committed, and became a sensation nationally as well, even becoming the Made-For-TV movie Separated by Murder, starring Sharon Gless - of Cagney & Lacey fame - playing both twins.

The case has twists and turns galore. One suspect was an alcoholic swinger, who referred to her husband a "shitbag," and the other was a choir teacher at church who was married to a minister. The story also involves a particularly inept, extremely addled hitman. Were both sisters involved in the plot? Was only one of them? Or did the hitman commit the crime on his own. Both twins were charged with the same crime, yet they had two separate trials. Only one went to jail.

After Kathy and Gideon dig through the details of the case, they welcome Emmy-winning actress Sharon Gless who talks about the challenges of playing twins in the Made-for-TV movie, her on-screen kiss with Rosie O'Donnell in Queer as Folk, and how her producer husband Barney Rosenzweig saved Cagney & Lacey from being pulled off the air. Gless also tells the story behind the famous McCarthy Chopped Salad at the Polo Lounge, named after her powerful lawyer, polo-loving Grandfather.

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This episode is a little different, we have a theme going on here - Bank Robberies. We will feature not one, but two Elizabeths from different historical periods, with bank robberies in common.

Part One is about a Gilded Age con woman named Elizabeth Bigley, but she used many different names and personas in order to accomplish some pretty impressive scams. Many scammers take money from regular folk, but Bigley set her sights on tougher targets like Lawyers and Bank Presidents. Bigley's biggest scam was pretending she was the illegitimate daughter of Steel magnate and extremely rich guy, Andrew Carnegie.

If you hate banks and extremely rich people, you will love Elizabeth Bigley, a/k/a Cassie Chadwick, a/k/a Madame Lydia DeVere, a/k/a Madame Marie LaRose.

Part Two of this episode involves a bank robbery and an Elizabeth, but she didn't commit the crime, she inspired it. In 1973, John Wojtowicz, a Viet Nam veteran, attempted to rob a Chase bank in Gravesend, Brooklyn. The robbery went completely off the rails, and turned into a hostage stand-off that lasted hours and became a mass media event. The reason Wojtowicz robbed the bank - he needed the money to pay for his lover's gender reassignment surgery. His lover, Ernest Aron, later became Elizabeth Debbie Eden.

If this story sounds familiar, that's because it was later turned into the blockbuster film "Dog Day Afternoon" starring Al Pacino, John Cazale, and Chris Sarandon. Sarandon - who was nominated for an Oscar for his performance as Al Pacino's love interest - joins Kathy & Gideon as our special guest.

Sarandon tells us what advice director Sidney Lumet gave to him that helped portray this unprecedented - at the time - character for a mainstream film. We also talk to Sarandon about some of his other amazing roles and film experiences, including working with the late Rob Reiner making "The Princess Bride." Sarandon has played so many great roles including the lead of the beloved vampire film "Fright Night," and voicing the character of Jack Skellington for the Tim Burton holiday classic, "The Nightmare Before Christmas."

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Jett Road Studios - Website - YouTube - Instagram - Substack

Bad Elizabeth - Instagram - YouTube - Substack

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SOURCES:

The Imposter Heiress: Cassie Chadwick, the Greatest Grifter of the Gilded Age by Annie Reed

https://a.co/d/0hzudhMF

The High Priestess of Fraudulent Finance by Abbot Kahler

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-high-priestess-of-fraudulent-finance-45/

Dog Day Afternoon

https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B000GOXGO2/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r

The Dog (documentary)

https://youtu.be/npe6yTYmTiM?si=nSD4vfIdhxQQd9jA

The Princess Bride

https://youtu.be/JtVRCmWm2lA?si=kdEwlvha6acPqZ5d

Fright Night

https://youtu.be/JtVRCmWm2lA?si=kdEwlvha6acPqZ5d

Nightmare Before Christmas

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107688/

Jump cut - Real Dog Day hero tells his story

https://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC15folder/RealDogDay.html

The Center - Liz Eden Papers

https://archives.gaycenter.org/repositories/2/resources/18

The "Bad Elizabeth" podcast series with Gideon Evans and Kathy Egan has a rather simple concept, each episode is about a different person named Elizabeth (or variation of that name, like Liz, Betty, or Beth) who is notorious. These folks can be figures from history or true crime, or they might just be a big ol' a-hole.

We are happy to report that more bad Elizabeths are headed your way shortly. We think you are going to love them...I mean, hate them. I mean, find their stories fascinating and entertaining.

But before we turn to our new episodes in 2026, we thought it would be fun to make a trailer that looks back at the episodes we dropped in 2025. We had some really fun/scary/nasty Elizabeths like cancer-faker Elisabeth Finch, alleged axe wielder Lizzie Borden, bear baiting fangirl and monarch Queen Elizabeth I, Hungarian blood countess Erzsebet Bathory, Steve Jobs wannabe Elizabeth Holmes and many others.

We also welcomed a gaggle of whip-smart, amazing special guests like Julie Delpy, E. Jean Carroll, Griffin Matthews, Charles Graeber, Ric Rebello, Alice Loxton, Michael Musto, and Jane Borden. Thanks to all of them for helping make our show awesome.

We weren't able to include everyone in a two minute trailer, but we hope you like it, and it gets you excited for more episodes coming up in short order.

Thanks also to others who helped put our show on the map likeThe Guardian who named it one of the "Best Podcasts of the Week" and Hysterical host Dan Taberksi who called our show "The funniest idea for a podcast, ever." And Apple who named it a podcast that "We're Loving" and Spotify who also promoted the series. We appreciate all of you and hope you will continue to listen and spread the word.

And of course continue to like, follow, and review the show (I know some of you still haven't done it). It really helps so we'd love it if you give us a bunch of five star ratings and glowing reviews as we roll out more episodes. Enjoy!

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Jett Road Studios - Website - YouTube - Instagram - Substack

Bad Elizabeth - Instagram - YouTube - Substack