The Strange Case of Mr. Swope and Dr. Hyde

For more than a century, Kansas City has been haunted by the mysterious death of philanthropist Thomas Swope. Suspect number one is his nephew-in-law, Dr. Bennett Hyde, who stood to inherit a sizable portion of the Swope family fortune. But did Hyde really murder Thomas Swope, or was the physician actually the victim of a longstanding family grudge?

This question was at the center of one of the most publicized murder trials of the early 20th century. Producer Mackenzie Martin walks host Suzanne Hogan through the evidence of this still-unsolved mystery.

Michael Wells, a librarian with our Missouri Valley Special Collections, contributed to this episode of KCUR's A People's History of Kansas City podcast.

And read podcast producer and reporter Mackenzie Martin's extensively researched breakdown of this century old Kansas City mystery here.