Ep. 153 The Infernal Machine

For millennia, we've heard of Pandora's box and the dangers held within. For Fern Bowden, a warning to stay away wasn't enough to keep her from opening the strange container her husband kept in the basement. With the lift of a lid and the blink of an eye, lives would literally and figuratively be blown apart. Today I'll be talking about Portland's Pandora's Box murder- and how a man's paranoia drove him to build an infernal machine.

For photos and sources for today’s episode, check out the Murder in the Rain Episode Blog.

Episode Host: Josh McCullough

James Bowden, Fern Bowden

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Murder House - Portland Mercury | slabtown chronicle: The Pandora's Box Murder | Portland area residents unaware of their homes' creepy histories | KATU | Bowden Family Tree - Ancestry | Detonator - Wikipedia | Flax | Description, Fiber, Flaxseed, Uses, & Facts | Fibre From Flax (1940-1949) | Spinning Flax (1940-1949) | Byssinosis Information | Mount Sinai - New York | Objects of Intrigue: The Infernal Machine - Atlas Obscura | Pandora | Myth & Box | Pandora's Box | Brooklyn Museum: Pandora | Mason Cooley quote: I love you is the inscription on Pandora's box. | Prometheus | God, Description, Meaning, & Myth | Blasting rock at Rocky Butte quarry, with Multnomah County Jail - OHS Digital Collections | Auto Freight Transport Building | Woman blown to pieces in trunk blast | Portland Man Says Wife Died 'By Mistake' | Booby Trap Killed Woman | Fatal Bomb Made To Kill Rival, Not Wife, He Admits | Wife Is Blown Up by 'Pandora's Box' | Bowden faces murder charge | Intended Bomb For Rival | 'Pandora Box' Tragedy Told; Husband Faces Murder Charge | Woman's Curiosity | James Bowden Murder Trial to Begin Monday | Bowden on Trial | Jury Advises Life Sentence | 'Pandora Box' Slayer Gets Life Imprisonment | Life Sentence Given After Guilt Denied | Salemite heads American Legion | Home Blast Kills Woman; Four Die In Bingen Crash | Explosion Damages Home; Husband Questioned | Husband Confesses Making Booby Trap | Husband's Bomb Meant For Rival | The Case of the Curious Wife | Signs and Symptoms | CDC | 2124 SE Yamhill St, Portland, OR 97214 | Zillow