Badger Bizarre

06/05/2026

Sad and awful story.

“No one really knows what happened.”

As we’ve talked about numerous times, Devil’s Lake has an energy to it that caters to mysterious tragic happenings such as this.

If you haven’t already, please listen to our episode about it attached below and see if you agree.

Our condolences go out to Audrie’s family and loved ones.

https://badgerbizarre.libsyn.com/37-legends-of-devils-lake

Family and friends are mourning the loss of a Baraboo rock climbing guide who died at Devil’s Lake State Park Saturday.

05/31/2026

On a quiet spring morning in La Crosse, a twenty-year-old woman was suddenly gone — dead of a he**in overdose in the apartment she shared with her boyfriend. What followed was a legal case that almost never happens: two men charged not with drug delivery, but with homicide.

At the center of it all is a law named for a basketball star who died nearly a quarter century earlier — a law that has since sent hundreds of people to prison across Wisconsin, and that raises questions we still don't have clear answers to.

Who is responsible when addiction ends in death? Where does love end and exploitation begin? And what does justice actually look like for a twenty-year-old girl who just simply dreamed of a life working with children?

Scott and Mickey discuss the case of Shelby Perkins, her tragic death and the controversial aftermath of it.

In the opening banter, we discuss Oshkosh going Hollywood, and an article describing some of the oldest cold cases in our state, going back hundred(s) of years!

All here, on Episode 63 of Badger Bizarre: "Shelby Perkins."

https://badgerbizarre.libsyn.com/shelby-perkins

05/05/2026

New on Patreon:

Occuring in the late 1870s, and centering on a teenage girl named Lurancy Vennum, who began experiencing strange trances, seizures, and claims of communication with spirits, 'The Watseka Wonder ' is one of the most famous cases of alleged spirit possession in American history.

Local physicians in Watseka, IL were at a loss to explain her condition, and she was nearly committed to an asylum, until a man named Asa Roff, whose own daughter had died years earlier after suffering similar episodes, recognized the symptoms and arranged for Lurancy to be visited by a spiritualist doctor named E. W. Stevens.
Following that visit, Lurancy claimed to be taken over by the spirit of Asa's dead daughter, Mary, who had died in 1865.

For the next 4 months, Lurancy lived with the Roff family, demonstrating detailed and accurate knowledge of Mary's life, recognizing old friends and relatives of the deceased girl, and recalling specific memories that Lurancy could not have known through any conventional means.

The case was documented extensively by Dr. Stevens in a pamphlet published in 1879 and later drew the attention of researchers in psychical research, making it a landmark account in the study of the paranormal, reincarnation, and spirit possession. Skeptics have offered alternative explanations ranging from fraud to dissociative disorders, but the case remains a subject of fascination and debate to this day.

Scott and Mickey discuss this case, its
aftermath, and the legacy which still resonates yet today.

Subscribe today to hear this tale on,

“Badger Beyond: The Watseka Wonder”

https://www.patreon.com/posts/157385127?utm_campaign=postshare_creator

04/03/2026

During the Minnesota Sioux Uprising of 1862, which created a stream of settlers fleeing their homes to get out of the way of an advancing warpath, a young mother protecting her small children became a national hero; the poster child for a loving, devoted mother.

A decade later, now living in the western Wisconsin community of Trimbelle, in Pierce County, that same young mother, Charlotte Lamb, started making headlines of a different kind. Her family, as well as others in close proximity to her, began turning up dead. Investigations into her past in Vermont, as well as her actions in Wisconsin over the previous 10 years, created shock and horror when the scope of her potential actions came into focus.

Scott and Mickey discuss the case of Charlotte Lamb, a lesser-known name in our history, though just may have been the most evil of us all.

The opening banter entails a listener story that is strikingly simiar to a legendary story of the notorius Summerwind Mansion.

Hear it all, on Episode 62 of Badger Bizarre, "Wisconsin's Angel of Death: Charlotte Lamb."

https://badgerbizarre.libsyn.com/62-wisconsins-angel-of-death-charlotte-lamb

03/20/2026

The Roxxy in Madison. The location of the former Factory Nightclub.

If you haven’t yet, listen to our latest episode “Otis Redding” to learn about a dark day in Madison’s history, and how the history of music itself was altered because of it.

Listen here to Episode 61 of Badger Bizarre, “Otis Redding.”

https://badgerbizarre.libsyn.com/otis-redding

03/15/2026

Badger Bizarre has made it to streaming…well, technically anyway. As weve mentioned a few times, we were fortunate enough to be asked to be “experts” for two episodes of “Bloodline Detectives”, a true-crime documentary series that highlights how investigators use revolutionary familial DNA testing and genetic genealogy to solve long-unsolved cold cases, for cases in Wisconsin & Illinois. Its currently streaming for free on Roku Channel, at least. Please check them out and enjoy, when you have a chance, and thanks, as always, for being loyal listeners and followers!

https://therokuchannel.roku.com/details/d4e6c7820f74abce5316b89b1f6eae1a/bloodline-detectives-s6-e9-bloodline-detectives

https://therokuchannel.roku.com/details/e4e3ecb9c2bdbc46e276d68c284947fd/bloodline-detectives-s6-e10-bloodline-detectives

03/13/2026

New on Badger Beyond..

On the morning of February 3, 1959, a plane crash in rural Iowa claimed the lives of musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, J.P. Richardson, and pilot, Roger Peterson.

Known today as 'The Day the Music Died,' the crash left an impact on the music and popular culture industries that last to this very day, almost 7 decades later.

Scott and Mickey reflect on the events leading up to that flight, tracing their steps during the tour, including the brutal travel schedule which nearly led to all of their deaths prior to that fateful night.

The upper midwest in winter reared its ugly head in 1959. Subscribe today to hear the story of all the was stolen from the world on that day, on “Badger Beyond: The Day the Music Died.”

https://www.patreon.com/posts/152918336?utm_campaign=postshare_creator

02/23/2026

On December 10th, 1967, a crowd was gathering outside of The Factory in Madison, as Otis Redding was scheduled to play 2 shows there that evening. The Factory was a newer venue in Madison, and Otis Redding was one of the fastest growing musical acts in the world, just coming off his renowned performance at the Monterey Pop Festival earlier in the year.

Otis never played that night, and the tragedy of why will forever hover over the city of Madison like a shadow, also launching Otis into immortality.

Scott and Mickey discuss what happened in Madison over Lake Monona, Otis' personal and musical journey that led him there, and his place in music history.

Hear the story of how one of music's greatest rises to superstardom ever ended on an icy Wisconsin afternoon on Episode 61 of Badger Bizarre: "Otis Redding."

https://badgerbizarre.libsyn.com/otis-redding

02/02/2026

New for Patreon Subscribers:

In November of 1959, the peaceful wheat fields of western Kansas were rocked by the brutal murders of the area's most prosperous farmer and his family. Killed inside their home in the middle of the night, the shocking crime against the Clutter family horrified this quintessential American small town, paralyzing the community in disbelief.

As the shock spread throughout the region, the murders caught the attention of the most famous author in the nation at the time, Truman Capote, who immersed himself into the story, prying information out of grieving townsfolk, and cozying up to investigators - and the perpetrators.

What resulted was the first of its kind, the nonfiction novel, "In Cold Blood," which also, in turn, created the genre which we all know today as True Crime.

Scott and Mickey discuss the Clutter family murders, the book, and their legacies on the true crime genre today.

Subscribe today to listen to Badger Beyond: In Cold Blood: The Clutter Family Murders

https://www.patreon.com/posts/149711074?utm_campaign=postshare_creator

01/13/2026

In June of 2007, police in Portage, WI were following-up on a tip regarding a missing persons case from Florida, when they found a literal "House of Horrors" in a local rental property. The sheer amount of abuse and torture, ultimately culminating in murder, created headlines nationwide, and led to numerous states reviewing and overhauling state laws in regards to foster care and oversite.

Although bodies buried in the back yard and tortured children locked in closets sounds like fodder for horror films, this was reality for a house in Portage. The investigation which unfolded uncovered a ring of identity thieves, causing havoc and ruining lives in many states throughout the country.

Scott and Mickey discuss this case, what enabled it, and its aftermath, including some of the misteps that were taken, repeatedly, by people in positions meant to help avoid these crimes ocurring in the first place.

In the opening banter we discuss a similar case in Outagamie County currently being adjudicated, tie up the Morgan Geyeser saga, and further evidence of why WI remains a UFO hotbed.

All here, on Episode 60 of Badger Bizarre, "Portage House of Horrors."

https://badgerbizarre.libsyn.com/60-portage-house-of-horrors