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Podcasts Take Two
Investigating a magic mushroom murder mystery
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Jun 27, 2013
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Investigating a magic mushroom murder mystery
The kingpin of a magic mushroom empire was found dead with a bullet through his head in 1980, and one writer has delved more into the unsolved mystery.
Magic mushrooms are displayed in a refrigerated case at Innerspace, a smart shop in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on Monday, Oct. 8, 2007. Under Dutch law, fresh psilocybin mushrooms are considered food. Cultivation and sale of the fungi are therefore legal and controlled by the food authorities.
Magic mushrooms are displayed in a refrigerated case at Innerspace, a smart shop in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on Monday, Oct. 8, 2007.
(
Bloomberg/Bloomberg via Getty Images
)

The kingpin of a magic mushroom empire was found dead with a bullet through his head in 1980, and one writer has delved more into the unsolved mystery.

Back in 1980, Dr. Steven Pollock was found dead in his San Antonio home, shot through the head.

He was a physician and something of a magic mushroom kingpin. Pollock did pioneering research on the therapeutic uses of psychedelic mushrooms, and grew and sold mushrooms in massive quantities.

His murder remains unsolved, but conspiracy theories abound involve everyone from local pimps to the federal government. Writer Hamilton Morris delves into the case in a new article in the current issue of Harper's Magazine, and joins the show today to talk about what he found.