Last Podcast On The Left
Last Podcast On The Left
"These guys are fucking maniacs. These frontier serial killers are so much scarier than Bundy, than Dahmer, than Gacy, because as they were murdering their pants were full of dookie. There was no clean underwear. These people were filthy. And they would just murder whenever they wanted to. And I, I feel like there's also something scarier about that." — Ben Kessel
"So Mickey Big Harp and Wiley Little Harp. I like it because the nicknames are simple. Right. Big and little. We got both kinds." — Marcus Parks
"He said, 'Do you know who I am?' Felipe replied, 'Bruto. Bruto.' Tobin pulled out his machete, lopped the heavy blade down. Hacking twice to fully sever the head." — Marcus Parks
This episode of Last Podcast on the Left meticulously details the lives and crimes of two notorious frontier serial killer duos: the Harp brothers and Felipe Espinosa. The narrative begins with the Harp brothers, Mickey and Wiley, active in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in Kentucky and Tennessee. The podcast explores their origins, their potential involvement on the British side during the Revolutionary War, and their subsequent descent into a life of widespread murder, robbery, and piracy. Their methods were often brutal and opportunistic, involving ambushes, theft, and gruesome mutilations, leaving a trail of death and destruction across settlements.
The discussion then shifts to Felipe Espinosa and his younger brother, Vivian, who operated in the Colorado Territory during the 1860s. Felipe, deeply religious and driven by a perceived mandate for vengeance, particularly against Americans for the deaths of his family members, committed horrific acts of post-mortem mutilation and murder. The podcast recounts their brazen threats to territorial officials and the extreme brutality of their killings, which often targeted isolated individuals and settlements. The episode highlights the challenges law enforcement faced in apprehending them due to the lack of witnesses and the vast, untamed frontier.
Throughout the episode, the hosts emphasize the stark difference between these frontier killers and more modern serial offenders, highlighting their raw, often unkempt nature, and the chaotic, lawless environment in which they operated. The narrative is punctuated with dark humor and extensive speculation as the hosts piece together the available historical accounts of these terrifying figures, underscoring the extreme violence that characterized American frontier life.