Historic Columbus Crimes: Mama's in the Furnace, the Thing & More

by David Meyers, Elise Meyers Walker

In Historic Columbus Crimes, the father-daughter team of David Meyers and Elise Meyers Walker looks back at sixteen tales of murder, mystery and mayhem culled from city history. Take the rock star slain by a troubled fan or the drag queen slashed to death by a would-be ninja. Then there's the writer who died acting out the plot of his next book, the minister's wife incinerated in the parsonage furnace and a couple of serial killers who outdid the Son of Sam. Not to mention a gunfight at Broad and High, grave-robbing medical students, the bloodiest day in FBI history and other fascinating stories of crime and tragedy. They're all here, and they're all true!

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, History

131 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 29, 2010

Reviews

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Happy the true-crime fan who reads of old murders in his home city, for he beholds a drab map freshly crimsoned with landmarks, a dull landscape brightened with milestones of blood!

Riverside Hospital is half a mile from my home. It is the place where I welcomed into my life--a quarter of a century apart--two fine sons and one artificial heart valve. Now, after reading this book, I can also think of it as the place where two female lab technicians were stabbed to death in 1983.

Near Hubbard Avenue—not quite four miles away—is the park where Comfest is held every June. It is a place where I sang blues and swing in my thirties and forties for the biggest crowds our modestly successful local band had ever seen. Now, after reading Historic Columbus Crimes, I can also see Hubbard as the location of the 1920's “love-tryst” apartment where married, murderous veterinary professor Dr. Snook once cavorted with Leora Hicks, his doomed flapper mistress.

Less than two miles away, there is a house on the west side of Indianola, the dull street I traveled five days a week to teach high school for most of my working life. Now—after Myers and Walker have refreshed my memory--I can vividly recall it as the once dreaded site of the notorious 2002 ninja/drag queen murder.

After reading this entire book, I feel that my average Midwestern city is more exciting than I once gave it credit for, and because of this I can now imagine that I may be a little bit more exciting too.

Many of the earlier cases—more than a third of this short book—have few interesting features to recommend them, and, besides, Myers and Walker relate them in such colorless, matter-of-fact prose that they possess small interest for the casual reader. The last half of the book, however, is somewhat redeemed by the fact that it contains more interesting cases than the first. “Mama's in the Furnace” is a strange, puzzling tale of a 1920's murder in a respectable Bexley family, “How Not to Write a Crime Novel” chronicles the 1978 death of a budding writer who wished to carry out a robbery in order to get literary material, and—perhaps my favorite—"Insanity Comes Quietly to the Structured Mind," in which anal-retentive family annihilator Forest Bigelow leaves behind a surprisingly meticulous list of final instructions. The book concludes with what may be our city's most publicized murder: the 2004 death at the Alrosa Villa of Darrel “Dimebag” Abbot, former guitarist for Pantera, shot to death by a deranged fan. Unfortunately, the authors seem to think it significant that Abbot and John Lennon were both shot on December 8th. This coincidence leads them into a strained series of comparisons which make this the worst chapter in the book.

Caveat: if you're not a big time true-crime fan and you don't live in Columbus, Ohio, I can't really recommend this book. It is well-researched but not well-written. Still, as a true-crime fan from Columbus, I can confidently say that Historic Columbus Crimes has opened my eyes and enriched my immediate world.

[Paul Lunger · Rating 3 out of 5]

From 2010, David Meyers' "Historic Columbus Crimes: Mama's in the Furnace, the Thing & More" is a book that has an introduction that 13 years later sadly no longer holds true with Columbus being a safe city & is one that honestly is for the diehard people looking for history of the obscure. Meyer picks 16 very different crimes and goes into details on them. Some of these almost seem like science fiction and other are even more bizarre but sadly true. The book though is an easy read, but will probably not hold much interest to anyone not entirely familiar with Ohio's capital city.

[Slmcm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to me mostly because Columbus is my hometown. I was familiar with all the cases from Snook on but I did pick up a few new facts. Of the older cases, the Mama in the furnace and her Addams Family-like household was the best. I really didn’t understand the inclusion of the story about the grave robbery; that was fairly common for that time period.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This caught my eye while perusing the books available on The Ohio Digital Library. Since I live less than 50 miles away, it seemed it might be interesting.
It might be if it were better written. Each story is arranged chronologically, oldest to most recent. The older stories have few details, and the ones included seem to be from newspapers.
Still was a quick read and supplied me with stories I did not know.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. There were several stories I liked better than others. However all of them provided a lot of the detail and history about Columbus and things that occurred here. I recommend this book to others who are from or live in Columbus and want to learn about its history.

[Paula Corregan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating book!

For those interested in history and true crime, this is the book for you. It chronicles crimes that occurred in and around Columbus, Ohio at various times in its history. I highly recommend this book to other true crime readers.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brief book covering notorious crimes in Colombus.

Short but full of acts, this little book fills in the details of crimes committed around Colombus, Ohio through the years. I warn you one in particular (Mama's in the Furnace), may stay with you for a while.

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good collection of interesting cases, though the storytelling tends to get convoluted.

[Sara Tondra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Columbus true crime stories

I liked this book but some of the stories were very descriptive. Some of the crimes I had heard about but most were new to me.

[Kara Prem · Rating 4 out of 5]

16 different stories - most of which I had heard of, but still an interesting read.

[Theresa Garee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really loved this book.
Enjoyed the odd crimes and situations...THEN looking up the locations to see if they are still standing!
Some are...

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't usually read true crime books, simply because I really have no interest in murderers or reading about how victims spent their last hours on earth. That isn't a judgment on those who do read them or enjoy the genre, it is simply that it isn't my thing. However, when I saw the book about some of Columbus's historic crimes, my interest in history and the fact that it was about my hometown peaked enough of my interest to read it.
I enjoyed reading many of the historic references, and since it was a city that I was familiar with, it was fun to read how things were "back in the day". Some of the murders and crimes were interesting, and the author's chronicling the events prior to and during the crimes were done well in some cases. One thing is certain, and that is that crime really hasn't changed much. Motives, and even methods are much the same as they were back in the day.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was inspired to pick this one up after seeing a presentation at the Ohio Historical Society which featured a few of the stories (plus others from around the state), and I was not disappointed. Columbus is not a city that is particularly interested in its own history, probably because so many who live here are relatively recent arrivals with roots elsewhere, so crime or otherwise, it was interesting to read about things from the city's past. The book is a series of accounts of different crimes, not a continuous narrative, which works well since the crimes are not connected. However, it is obvious that the authors find some of the stories more interesting than others, and it shows in the way the chapters are written. But most of the stories are engaging and well-written, and the book is worth a read for anyone interested in Columbus history.

[Tamara Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic look at some of the biggest crime cases of Columbus, including the ax murders on Norwich, the Snook Murder, the Drag Queen/Ninja stabbing and of course, the Saga of Dimebag Darrel. My only complaint is that this book isn't long enough.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting because of local. Not very well written.