The Murder Ballad Was the Original True Crime Podcast
You’d be forgiven for thinking this was the plot of a moody drama or a Dateline special. Actually, it’s the story told in “Omie Wise,” one of the many murder ballads that swept nineteenth-century America. After Wise became pregnant by an engaged man, he (allegedly) killed her to cover up the indiscretion. Court records of Jonathan Lewis’ trial exist, so we know the tale is, chillingly, true. The Yale Review. They’re the first place Americans sought cheap thrills based on a true story. They were innovated by broadside balladeers of the British Isles. Broadsides were one of the fir...
Source: jstor.org