Money Crimes with Nicole Lapin - Summer Scares: The Real People Who Inspired AHS: Coven

Episode Date: September 20, 2026

The Voodoo Queen of New Orleans. A sadistic aristocrat with a torture chamber. And a crazed killer with an axe. Heidi uncovers the real stories of Marie Laveau, Madame LaLaurie, and the Axeman of New Orleans: the real people that inspired American Horror Story: Coven.For more follow Twisted Tales wherever you listen to podcasts: https://pod.link/1839058226If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow Scams, Money, & Murder to never miss a case! To hear episodes ad-free, subscribe to Crime House+. Join at crimehouseplus.com or if you’re listening on Apple Podcasts, tap “Try Free” at the top of this show’s page. Scams, Money, & Murder is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios.🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to other Crime House Originals Clues, Crimes Of Reddit, Crime House 24/7, Serial Killers & Murderous Minds, Murder True Crime Stories, and more wherever you get your podcasts!Follow me on SocialInstagram: @CrimehouseTikTok: @CrimehouseFacebook: @crimehousestudiosX: @crimehousemediaYouTube: @crimehousestudios

Hi everyone, it's Vanessa Richardson. Before today's episode, I want to tell you about another crime house show, Murder True Crime Stories. Join Carter Roy every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday as he explores history's most notorious murders like you've never heard before. Follow Murder True Crime Stories, available wherever you listen to podcasts. This is Crime House. The Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, a high-class lady who moonlighted as a sadist. A crazy killer with a signature weapon. If you've watched American Horror Story,

you might have seen the fictional versions of these three people, but are you ready to really meet them? Welcome to Twisted Tales, a crimehouse original. I'm Heidi Wong. Every week I'll take you deep into the true stories behind horror's biggest legends. From vengeful ghosts to bloody slasher's to alien encounters and more, these real-life accounts are guaranteed to keep you up at night.

But scary stories aren't any fun if you're telling them alone. If you've ever had a haunted moment or a twisted tale of your own, I want to hear about it. Drop it in the comments, the creepier, the better. With Halloween around the corner, I'm diving into all things American Horror Story with its witchiest season of all, Coven. Released on October 9th, 2013, the third season of American Horror Story took place in New Orleans, and several of its characters were based on real people who haunted the streets of the French Quarter. And in this episode, I'll introduce you to three of them.

If you don't know about American Horror Story, every season has its own story with its own plot and characters. And the show really covers all the bases of horror movie tropes. There's haunted houses, a creepy asylum, killer clowns. Kim Kardashian. You get the idea. You can probably guess what the Coven season is about, which is the occult and voodoo. If you haven't seen it or need a refresher, here's the story. After learning she has supernatural powers, a young witch named Zoe Benson arrives amidst Robichos Academy.

It's a school for witchcraft in New Orleans that's run by a witch named Cordelia Fox. The school is full of girls with all different abilities, and eventually they learn that the world of witchcraft is run by the most powerful witch of all, known as the Supreme. But the current supreme Fiona Good is starting to lose her powers. A new supreme needs to be chosen, and every young young. witch at Miss Robichos Academy is sure that she is the next one in line. As they compete for the top spot, the girls meet three important figures from New Orleans history. There's Marie LeVoe, the vo, the voodoo queen, who's constantly at odds with the other witches in the city. There's Madame Delphine LaLauri, an immortal serial killer who was freed from the grave by the Supreme

herself. And then there's the Axeman of New Orleans, a ghost of a crazed killer. In the show, their backgrounds are totally fictionalized, but these were real people whose true stories are made for TV. And today we're going to meet all of them. The first person I want to tell you about is a New Orleans legend, the voodoo queen herself, Marie Lavo. In Coven, Marie LaVoe is played by Angela Bassett. This is the plot she's given on American Horror Story. Back in the 1800s, Marie sells her soul to Papa Legba, the gatekeeper of the spirit world. But her everlasting life comes at a price. She has to sacrifice living souls to Papa Legba or she'll get dragged into hell. But there's one person in the city who Marie has different plans for, a woman named Delphine La L'Lauri.

She's a rich aristocrat who tortures people in her house. More on her later. Marie curses Delphine Lallory with eternal life, then seals her in a coffin to live out eternity. But when the reigning supreme frees Delphine Lallory in modern times, Marie takes that as a direct attack. Marie spends the season trying to destroy the academy and all practicing witches, and she vows to find Delphine Lallory and make her suffer. In the show, Marie Laveau is one of the main antagonists, a force of supernatural power that threatens the very existence of the coven of witches. But in real life, her story is much more complex. A lot of Marie Laveau's life is a mystery. Even now, it isn't totally clear when she was born.

Some sources say 1794, others are sure she was born in 1801. Either way, she was raised in a very unique period in New Orleans history, a time when Louisiana voodoo was everywhere. In American horror story, Marie LeVoe gains her powers by selling her soul. But that's not what happened in real life. At least not as far as we know. Because in reality, Marie was more focused on helping people than, sacrificing them. From the women in her family, she learned how to use herbs to heal wounds

and how to ask spirits for protection and guidance. Marie also learned the importance of social capital. A voodoo healer was almost a kind of therapist. If you had trouble with your spouse or wanted guidance in making a big decision, you go to a healer for help. You had clients from all walks of life who might come to your door looking for help. Marie learned how important it was to develop and keep these social connections. A lot of it had to do with creating a mystique around herself. Like I said before, some parts of Marie Levo's story are hard to pin down. But we do know this.

By the time she was around 23 years old, she was already a widow. Her husband's name was Jock Parie. Marie first started practicing voodoo when she was married to Jock and was just beginning to come into her own as a talented spiritualist. But then, Jacques disappeared. Even now, nobody knows what happened to him. But after he was presumed dead, Marie started referring to herself as the widow Parie.

The name made her seem even more mysterious and alluring. Without a husband to provide for her, Marie started working as a hairdresser. American Horror Story references this. In the show, Marie's modern day job is owning a salon. But for the real Marie Levo, hairdressing wasn't just a regular job. It was how her life and her legacy as the voodoo queen of New Orleans really took off. Marie often went to people's houses to cut their hair. During their appointments, her clients would tell Marie all about their lives and their worries.

At her salon, Marie also had access to an endless string of gossip. As ladies chatted to each other during their appointments, Marie silently listened to everything. Soon she had access to information about personal lives of countless people. Who was on the verge of bankruptcy? Who was struggling to bear children? And who wanted to save their marriage from ruin? And Marie used this information to her advantage. If she knew a struggling oil baron was worried about his money, she'd bring that up at his next appointment.

The baron would be amazed by how much she knew about him. So when she offered to perform a ritual or sell him a product to save his business, well, who was he to say no? One of Marie's most popular offerings was called Grigree. It was this concoction of herbs, roots, and other magical ingredients that she sealed in a little bag. As long as the user carried it around, they were protected from harm. People all across New Orleans sang Marie's praises. From the 1820s to the 1830s, her reputation grew and grew. By the time she was in her 30s, Marie Levo was the most famous voodoo leader in the city.

And so the voodoo queen of New Orleans was born. But it wasn't long before others came for her crown. Soon, rival voodoo masters were trying to one-up Marie. But Marie Levo was a fierce competitor, and she was very good at what she did. It wasn't just about showing off her skills. Marie Levo wanted to prove that she really did have command over the spirits. Marie would often stage huge public demonstrations in Congo Square the spiritual gathering place of New Orleans.

During one of these performances, Marie declared that she would use her powers to shield people from the threat of yellow fever. During the time, the disease was running rampant through the city and everyone was terrified of catching it. Standing in the middle of the square, she singled out people she could sense were at risk of getting sick. Then and there, she performed healing rituals on all of them. And it worked.

None of those people got yellow fever. Back then, it would have been impossible to actually predict who was susceptible. Nobody, including Marie LeVoe, knew that mosquitoes carried yellow fever. So were her predictions pure luck? Or was this proof that she had supernatural abilities? For the people who watched Marie work her magic, it didn't matter. All they saw was a powerful shaman, one who could stop death in its tracks. Marie LeVoe reigned as the voodoo queen of New Orleans until her death in 1881,

when she was around 80 years old, but her legacy lives on. To this day, people from all over the world come to pay their respects to Marie at the famous St. Louis Cemetery. Some even hope that Marie will be able to help them from beyond the grave. If you visit, you'll see stones and other offerings littered around her dress. tomb, you might even notice three X's drawn on the marble. It's said that if you do this and ask for a wish, Marie might grant it. Even in death, Marie Laveau is seen as a beacon of hope for so many, a chance at healing and prosperity. But our next subject couldn't be more different, because her story is one of pure terror and decades of unspeakable violence. It's time for us to meet Madame

Delphine Lalori. The police closed my sister's case in 2019. Last month, her killer commented on my post. On Reddit, true crime doesn't come from journalists. It comes from the victims, the witnesses, and sometimes the suspects themselves. People post the things they never say out loud, anonymous, unfiltered, and completely real. And every Tuesday, on crimes of Reddit, we read them out loud. I'm Sabrina Deanna Roga from Two Girls, One Ghost.

And I'm Alexis Linkletter from the first degree. Each week, one of us brings the most unhinged, true crime stories the internet has to offer. And the other goes in completely blind. No prep, no spoilers. Reacting in real time, same as you. And then we swap. And we pull every thread until the whole twisted picture comes into view. It's dark. It's messy. And the scariest part is that these are real stories, posted by real people. New episodes drop every Tuesday. Listen to and follow Crimes of Reddit, available now wherever you get your podcast.

In American Horror Story Coven, we first meet Delphine Lalori when she's at the height of her power back in the 19th century. From the outside, she seems like this well-mannered, well-respected upper-class woman. But in reality, she's hiding a horrifying secret. In her home is a secret door. It leads to a torture chamber where she brutally assaults and kills her own enslaved workers. This goes on for decades until her sadistic ways are revealed, and an angry mob tries to burn her house down. That's when Marie Levo poisons Delphine, traps her in a coffin, and leaves her there hopefully forever. But then, everything goes haywire.

Fiona Good, the reigning supreme, digs up Delphine in hopes of figuring out how she's managed to live forever. That question brings both Fiona and Delphine to Marie LeVos' beauty salon. Well, once Marie finds out that Delphine has been freed, she's livid. She decides to take revenge on both Delphine and the witches who freed her. Eventually, Delphine does some reflecting and is forced to face her own racism. She even starts to kind of regret what she did. Now, that is pure fiction, because in real life, Madame Delphine LaLauri was anything but sorry. The real Delphine LaLauri was born Delphine McCarty in 1787 and grew up on a plantation

in Louisiana. Delphine's family was incredibly wealthy and incredibly cruel. Her own uncle tortured his enslaved workers by placing them on a rack, which is literally a medieval torture device. But those enslaved people fought back and killed Delphine's uncle. His family was upset, but mostly they were worried about their own future, especially because the Haitian revolution had just taken place. Delphine's family and countless other plantation owners wanted to ensure a revolt of enslaved people would never happen in Louisiana. And they believed torture was the answer. Delphine's father had his own unique method of brutality.

Apparently, he once showed his neighbor a severed black ear. He said this is how to deal with a runaway enslaved person. These were the kinds of values that Delphine was raised with. But her own sadistic nature wouldn't manifest just yet. By the time she was in her 20s, Delphine's father had gifted her a huge fortune, including property, livestock, and over 50 enslaved people. She and her then husband, Jean Blanc, used the money to buy a luxurious two-story house in downtown New Orleans. Then in 1815, when Delphine was 28 years old, her husband died, leaving her a widow with five children to care for.

And this is when things start to get scary. Around this time, eight enslaved people died under Delphine's care. But because record keeping wasn't exactly the most accurate back then, especially when it came to enslaved people, we don't know how they died. but it's hard to ignore how suspicious it is, especially when you hear about the screaming. Delphine's neighbors reported awful shouting and yelling coming from her property at 1140 Royal Street. The whole time, Delphine acted like nothing was wrong,

and she projected that image too. In 1828, when she was 41 years old, she married Dr. Louis La Lourri, who moved into the house on Royal Street with her. But afterwards, another 12 enslaved people died in Delphine's care. Again, we don't know how they died, but we know that they were young and presumably healthy. With the wave of new deaths and ever-present screaming, people around New Orleans came to

their own conclusions about what was happening at Delphine's house. Some claim that she was torturing enslaved people in the cellar. Others weren't sure what she was doing, but many noticed signs of mistreatment. Delphine was accused of being excessively cruel to her enslaved workers and went to court three times because of it. As far as we know, none of these cases actually went anywhere. But that didn't stop people from talking. Even if nobody could prove it, everyone knew something awful was happening at her house. And then somebody saw something. One day, a woman heard an ear-piercing scream coming from Delphine's mansion. When she looked over, she saw a young black girl running

across the yard. Delphine was chasing after her holding a whip. The little girl ran in and out of the house until eventually the child emerged on the roof, with Delphine still chasing after her. The woman watching was terrified. She had to look away. So she didn't see what happened next, but she heard it. The terrible, nauseating smack of the girl falling from the roof and landing on the ground below. Dead. Even though this report was hard to confirm, it was enough to bring the rumors about Delphine

to a fever pitch. And before long, New Orleans would get the proof that they were searching for. On April 10, 1834, when Delphine was 47, a fire broke out in the kitchen of 1140 Royal Street. Firemen descended on the house trying to control the blaze. They went inside and noticed there was a locked room above the kitchen. They were worried that someone might be in there and told Delphine to open the door. She refused. She told authorities that whoever was inside deserved to stay up there.

Thankfully, the fireman didn't listen. They knocked down the door and found something more terrifying than any horror movie. There were seven enslaved people suspended by chains around their necks. From the scarred, mutilated states of their bodies, it seemed like they've been there for months. The firemen rescued them, and afterwards an older black woman confessed that she had started the fire. She said it was their one final attempt at freedom. She hoped the fire might give her and her fellow prisoners time to escape, and even if they died,

it would spare them from more torture at the hands of Delphine Lalori. Of the seven people who were rescued, only four survived. And while they were finally safe, Delphine wasn't. After people learned the truth, angry mobs descended on her house, and the police began investigating her entire property. And there, in the backyard, they found another horrifying surprise. Buried on the property were the remains of several enslaved people. Among them were the remains of a young girl.

The people of New Orleans were furious and determined to punish Delphine LaLaurie. In American horror story, this is the moment where Marie Laveau throws Delphine into a coffin to suffer for all eternity. But in reality, Delphine's fate was a lot less cinematic. While that angry mob was ripping her house apart, Delphine escaped. She fled New Orleans and eventually escaped the United States entirely. She ended up living the rest of her life in self-inflicted exile in France. And no, she did not live forever.

Madame Delphine Lalori died in Paris in 1849 at age 62. The original La L'Lauri house was eventually rebuilt and restored. At different times, it was a girls' school, a music conservatory, and an apartment building. At one point, Nicholas Cage even owned it. Today, the house on Royal Street has a more fitting use. It's one of the most popular stops on New Orleans' many ghost tours. visitors have reported having all kinds of weird supernatural experiences there. And honestly, I'm not surprised.

That house has its fair share of phantoms. If you've been there, let me know. But the truth is, Madame Lalori wasn't the only sadistic murderer roaming the French quarter in the 19th century. Coming up, I'll introduce you to the Axeman of New Orleans. Family blood runs deep. It binds, but getting along isn't easy when jealousy and hunger for power take over. Killer Kin from ID explores real cases about family members who turn against one another,

unleashing betrayal and violence from the inside. Here investigators, experts, and family members try to understand what actually happened and how kinship can unravel into terror. Does evil run in the family? Listen to killer kin wherever you get your podcasts. On American Horror Story Coven, one of the most haunting characters is called the Axemen of New Orleans. In the show, the Axeman isn't. some immortal, magical being. He's the ghost of a violent murderer, and his spirit is trapped in the

house that has now been turned into Miss Robichot's Academy. But not for long. One of the young witches living in the academy makes a bargain with the Axeman to bring him back to life. And then, in true American horror story fashion, things get weird. At first, the Axeman is your standard creepy killer. He goes back to the house he used to live in when he was alive and kills the current tenant. But then we learned that as a ghost, he was watching Fiona, the leader of the coven. And now he's in love with her. He tries to seduce her, but Fiona tricks him. Furious, he returns to the academy and tries to kill all the witches there. But the girls are stronger than him. Using their powers, they stab him to death with knives, and you guessed it,

his own axe. Now, this version of the story leaves out a lot of the creepy, interesting details. Like the fact that this guy was considered the Jack the Ripper of 1910's New Orleans. So let's go back in time and meet the real Axeman, shall we? Unlike the last two people we learned about, the Axeman of New Orleans doesn't have much of a biography. Even now, we don't know who the Axeman was, or why he attacked all these people. It's not even clear how many people he killed. Most sources agree that he was active for a little over a decade from 1910 to 1921. And one thing we know for sure is that he had a very specific style of killing.

He sneak into the victim's homes and find a sharp object. As his name would suggest, his preferred weapon was almost always an axe. He'd butcher his victims in their own beds under the cover of night. And he was never caught. Let's start at the beginning. It's around 3 a.m. on August 13, 1910. On Lessop Street, it's a quiet night until suddenly a woman cries out in desperation. Her name is Harriet Crudy, and she's running down the street, screaming and crying.

She staggers up to different houses and yells, please, help, my husband is hurt. Nobody opens their door for her. So neighborly. But Harriet keeps running, trying every single house on the street. Finally, a constable who lives nearby hears her and jumps out of bed. Harriet leaves the officer to her house and into the bedroom. There on the floor is Harriet's husband, covered in blood. Harriet explains that she woke up in the middle of the night to a strange man standing over her with a bloody cleaver in his hand. The stranger told Harriet to give him her money. He said that if she didn't, she'd end up like her husband. After Harriet handed over what little cash she had, the man left. But the damage had already been done. Her husband lay

unconscious on the floor, bleeding from the gashes across his body. The stranger had attacked him while Harriet was sleeping. Thankfully, Harriet's husband survived the attack. And since she got a good look at the assailant, she was able to help police search for him. It didn't take long for the authorities to find someone who matched Harriet's description. They arrested a guy named John Flannery,

who was a delinquent with a criminal record. Flannery was sent to prison, and it looked like the case was closed. But just a month later, it happened again. The next attack was almost identical to what happened to Harriet Crudy and her. her husband. Late at night, a man wielding a stolen meat cleaver broke into Conchetta and Joseph Rosotto's house. Standing over the sleeping couple, the man attacked both of them, burying his blade

into their faces. Miraculously, both Conchetta and Joseph survived, though Joseph was blinded in one eye and Conchetta was permanently disfigured from the attack. Identifying the culprit wouldn't be easy, because John Flannery, the guy who was convicted of attacking Harriet Crudy and her husband, was still in jail. He couldn't have been responsible for this violence, too. But before the police could rethink their investigation, the attacker struck again. And this time, he actually killed someone.

On June 27, 1911, a young Italian grocer named Joseph Davy was rushed to the hospital after a stranger bludgeoned him with an axe. Joseph had been slashed so many times that his skull had been cracked open and his brains were spilling out. Doctors did their best to save him, but after 30 hours he died from his wounds.

That made three attacks, five victims, and one death, all in one year. The police were sure that this was the work of the same person. They even gave the killer a name. The Cleaver. A bit on the nose, but hey. Some officers thought the Cleaver was a crazed maniac or a thief that got carried away, but he also only targeted Italian immigrants. And regardless of the cleaver's motive, the police kept finding themselves at a dead end.

No matter how many leads they followed, nothing brought them any closer to closing the case. Then just as quickly as the cleaver arrived in New Orleans, he vanished. At least for a while. In the crisp early morning hours of December 22nd, 1917, the police arrived at the home of Epiphanio and Anna and Olina. Anna greeted the detectives, her face stained. with tears. In a terrified voice, she explained to the men what had happened earlier that morning. The story was eerily familiar. Anna had woken up to the sight of a stranger looming over her. In one hand, he held a pistol. In his other hand, he held an axe. The stranger had screamed

at Anna to shut up. And in her stunned, terrified silence, she watched as the man swung the axe down on her sleeping husband, hitting him again and again and again. She only started screaming once the man left. Epipfano was rushed into the hospital and treated for his wounds. He survived, but neither he nor Anna could give a description of the attacker. It was too dark. They were too scared. It's hard to imagine that this attack was done by anyone other than the Kleber. But those cases from 1910 and 1911 had been handled by a different group of detectives. The New Orleans Police Department had been reorganized since then,

And as far as we know, they just never made the connection. So this crime, despite its similarities, was treated as a totally new case. And at first, the police's response was basically a shrug. Without a description of the killer or much evidence left of the scene, there was no lead to follow. Plus, at the time, Italian immigrants were treated as second-class citizens in the city. But just like in 1910, once these attacks started, they ramped up really quickly. A few months later, in May of 1980, 18, another man called the station to report that his brother and sister-in-law had been hacked

to death by a man wielding an axe. Then the same thing happened again to another Italian immigrant family, then another and another and another. At this point, the cleaver was being called the axe man. Again, how original. And the local papers couldn't get enough of him. Each case led to new theories. Was the murderer one of the victim's friends or even part of their family? no idea was off-limits.

And just like before, the police kept finding themselves chasing after leads that led them nowhere. Between 1917 and 1919, the Axeman terrorized the people of New Orleans. And maybe it was that feeling of invincibility that led him to get a little creative. If you know the story of Jack the Ripper, you know all about the creepy, coded messages

he wrote to the London newspapers. Well, it seems like the Axeman took a page out of his book, He started writing to various New Orleans papers and even said the return address was hell, just like Jack the Ripper did. We don't know if the person who wrote these letters was the real killer or just a person who wanted the attention. But one thing's for sure, the letters were super creepy. In one of the letters from 1919, the Axeman said he had a proposition for the people of New Orleans. He was apparently a huge fan of jazz music and promised to spare anyone who played jazz music that night. And if anyone decided not to follow these orders, well, that night, jazz music poured

out of the windows of countless homes across the city. And as far as anyone could tell, the Axeman kept his promise. Nobody was killed that evening. Like I said, the American Horror Story version of the Axeman is mostly fictional, but the show did do a good job of focusing on his love of jazz. In the series, the Axeman carries a saxophone and even uses it to try to seduce Fiona good. But in real life, the stunt was one of the last times anyone in New Orleans ever heard from the Axeman. In 1921, after a decade of terror, the Axeman vanished yet again. By this point, he'd attacked at least seven different families and killed three people. Thankfully, this time, he didn't reappear. That hasn't stopped people from trying

to figure out who the Axeman really was. And a lot of these rumors from back in the day are still going strong. The truth is we may never know. New Orleans is full of ghosts, spirits, and haunted places. Marie LeVoe, Delphine LaLaurie, and the Axeman all shaped the city and its history. And if you believe in the paranormal, then it's possible that all three of them are haunting the streets of the French quarter to this day. Thanks so much for joining me on this episode of Twisted Tales, a crimehouse original. I'd love to hear from you. What did you think about today's stories? Anything you're dying for me to cover, leave a comment or review wherever you're tuning in, and be sure to follow twisted tales so we can keep building this community together. I'll be back next week with another unbelievable

true story. And until then, stay curious. And remember, there's no reason to fear the dark, unless you try to hide from it. The moment a body is found, the clock starts ticking. 48 hours. That's how long detectives have before the trail begins to go cold. From A&E and Crime House, this is the official podcast from the famous true crime series, The First 48. Step inside the critical window, the interrogations, the dead ends, and the breakthroughs that crack a case wide open. I'm Carter Roy. Each week, I revisit a landmark homicide investigation with the depth you know and immersive, long-form storytelling built for your ears.

Real detectives. Real cases. real stakes. This is the first 48. New episodes every Thursday. Listen to and follow the first 48 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you're looking for another show to check out, listen to Murder True Crime Stories, another show from Crime House I think you'll love. Join Carter Roy as he digs into history's most notorious murders like you've never heard before. Follow murder. murder, true crime stories, available wherever you listen to podcasts.