Frédéric Bourdin "The Chameleon" & Helen Hadsell "The Contest Queen"

Sinister Sisters

This week, we’re both covering stories from The Lone Star State with a couple of con people! Where’s that Southern hospitality?! 🤠
First, Felicia covers the case of Frédéric Bourdin - a notorious serial imposter from France who earned the nickname "The Chameleon.” Since childhood, Bourdin is believed to have assumed at least 500 false identities throughout his life. But none more infamous than the case of the Barclay family in San Antonio who, at age 23, Bourdin convinced was their long lost 13-year-old son that had mysteriously vanished from his neighborhood in 1994.
Next, Lauren tells the tale of Helen Hadsell - a woman known as the “Contest Queen" for how many contests she won in the ‘50s & ‘60s. With prizes ranging from lavish all-expense paid trips to even a whole house that was showcased in the 1964-65 New York World's Fair, Hadsell was a real life Lady Luck! Until later in her life when she became involved with Laredo cult leader Jose Silva and his Silva Mind Control approach. Under Silva, she went on to give lectures on mind control and positive thinking as a self proclaimed “Doctor of Metaphysics,” even retconning her earlier contest wins to imply they were due to these techniques.