The Spy, The Witch, and the Wych Elm: An Unsolved Mystery

In the heart of Hagley Wood, a skeleton hidden inside a hollow tree sparked decades of eerie graffiti, whispered conspiracies, and chilling rumors that she may have been a WWII spy silenced forever.EPISODE BLOG PAGE (includes sources and full transcript): https://weirddarkness.com/SpyWitchWychFEATURED STORIES IN THIS EPISODE: Was a woman found dead in a wych elm tree in wartime England actually a WWII German spy? (Bella in the Wych Elm) *** Jonathan Reed couldn’t bear to be separated from his wife ... so he moved into her tomb. (Til Death Do Us Part) *** Dr. Milton Rokeach forced three men who all believed themselves to be the Messiah to live together for two years in an effort to bring them out of their irrationality. But what Rokeach learned had little to do with the men themselves. (The Three Christs of Ypsilanti) *** A bodiless voice torments a lone beachgoer camping out. (Spirit Voice on the Beach) *** Only months after the infamous ax murders in Villisca, Iowa - the quiet farm community of Payson, Illinois was shattered by its own terrifying murder case. (The Pfanschmidt Murders) *** In an effort to test one of his theories on social behavior, psychologist Muzafer Sherif released twenty-two 12-year-old boys into a sparsely supervised wilderness camp — and then covertly provoked them to fight each other. (The Robbers Cave Experiment) *** Witch hunts and trials. They didn’t end in Salem – they live on even today in Papua New Guinea. (Papua New Guinea Witchcraft) *** A man in Japan sees small, childlike ashen white aliens. (Childlike Aliens) *** How can a holy book such as the Christian bible bring bad luck? One paranormal museum in West Virginia has the answer with an infamous display of the 666 Bible. (The 666 Bible) *** The people of Hannibal, Missouri in the late 1800s would remain appalled that one of their most prominent residents could be murdered without retribution. Even a $10,000 reward couldn’t bring justice. (The Stillwell Murder) *** A father takes his son to the ruins of an old, burned down building – and the boy sees something his father doesn’t. (The Old Factory Visit) *** “The Devil’s Advocate” - it’s a phrase that can be traced to the Roman Catholic Church that long had an actual official office for a person who was employed to be exactly that – an advocate for the devil. And he still works for the church even today. (The Devil’s Advocate)CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…00:00:00.000 = The Foreboding00:00:51.758 = Show Open00:03:56.427 = Was Bella In The Wych Elm a WWII Spy?00:17:52.860 = Til Death Do Us Part ***00:20:30.246 = The Three Christs of Ypsilanti00:28:17.112 = Spirit Voice On The Beach00:32:35.825 = The Pfanschmidt Murders of 1912 ***00:41:38.517 = Devil’s Advocate00:45:43.295 = The Robbers Cave Experiment00:53:23.042 = Papua New Guinea Witchcraft ***00:59:43.636 = Child Aliens00:1:03:02.762 = The 666 Bible01:08:44.469 = The Stillwell Murder ***01:20:23.228 = The Old Factory Visit01:25:09.988 = Show Close*** = Begins immediately after inserted ad breakLISTEN ON PODCAST APPS: Look for this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio, Amazon Music, Pandora, TuneIn Radio, and other podcast apps. Get a list of free listening apps here: https://weirddarkness.com/wdapps*No AI Voices Are Used In The Narration Of This Podcast*SOURCES and RESOURCES:“Was Bella in the Wych Elm a WWII German Spy?” posted at The UnRedacted: https://tinyurl.com/wtxqr7l“The Pfanschmidt Murders” by Troy Taylor for American Hauntings Ink: https://tinyurl.com/uolq6b8“Spirit Voice on the Beach” by Berggraf38, posted at YourGhostStories.com: https://tinyurl.com/qngcm6l“The Three Christs of Ypsilanti” by Taig Spearman for All That’s Interesting: https://tinyurl.com/w9delgl“The Robbers Cave Experiment” by Taig Spearman for All That’s Interesting: https://tinyurl.com/yx66lpob“Papua New Guinea Witchcraft” by Caleb Strom for Ancient Origins: https://tinyurl.com/rvpyyva“The Devil’s Advocate” by Ellen Lloyd for Ancient Pages: https://tinyurl.com/vluuhdg“Childlike Aliens” by Terry Larch for FreakLore.com: https://tinyurl.com/snrkrbm“The 666 Bible” by Theresa at Theresa’s Haunted History of the Tri-State: https://tinyurl.com/t8dlnez“The Stillwell Murder” by Robert Wilhelm for Murder By Gaslight: https://tinyurl.com/yd4uupot“The Old Factory Visit” by Mike, posted at MyHauntedLifeToo.com: (link no longer available)“Til Death Do Us Part” by Jessica Ferri at The-Line-Up.com: https://the-line-up.com/mary-reed(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2026, Weird Darkness.Originally aired: November 27, 2018