Criminalia

Thank you for joining us for the final episode of our season of stray heists AND the finale of Criminalia. This is goodbye, but it's also thank you – thank you for supporting us as we walked in and out of historical crime scenes, nefarious cocktails, and we are grateful you took this adventure with us. And always remember: There’s no such thing as cocktail jail. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The plan was to keep the 18-karat-gold toilet called 'America' on display indefinitely at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. But it did go out on loan, once, to Blenheim Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the birthplace of Winston Churchill, in 2019, as part of an exhibition of Maurizio Cattelan's works, titled 'Victory is Not an Option'. 'America', a participatory piece, was fully plumbed and installed in a restroom cubicle at the palace -- and on September 14, 2019, the one-of-a-kind toilet was stolen from the venue.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Beanie Babies hit the scene in 1993, the original line of stuffed toys featured nine characters -- but that number would grow to hundreds. The brainchild of Ty Warner, and made by his company, Ty Inc., they were one of the hottest toys of the 1990s -- but they also inspired an underground economy that dealt in fraud and many, many thefts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just after lunch on July 14, 2013, a white van drove away from Toronto General Hospital. Its cargo? A stolen Boston Steinway baby grand piano, taken from the hospital's Peter Munk Cardiac Centre. Of the bold heist, Todd Milne, director of security operations for the hospital, told the media, quote, “I’ve been managing security since 1999, and have not experienced a theft as ballsy and as crazy as this one." He continued, quote, “The reason they were probably successful in removing the piano is that nobody would have thought a crime like this would ever take place.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tree nuts have become are a hot commodity on the black market, and thieves have been making off with shipments of California-grown nuts to cash in. Of the phenomenon, Mike Boudreaux, the sheriff of Tulare County in California’s Central Valley, stated, “It’s not your guy on the corner in the long jacket, selling knock-off Rolex watches.” Why steal nuts? Let's talk about why – and how – these California nut crimes have been happening.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the spring of 2008, 12-year-old Shamira Fingers was walking down a street near her home in South Philadelphia when she suddenly and surprisingly fell into an open sewer hole -- the manhole cover, missing. Once a rare crime, disappearing manhole covers has become an expensive and dangerous problem for cities around the world, with thieves swiping dozens to hundreds – sometimes thousands – of them at a time. Let's pry open the lid on manhole cover capers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"You can't prove what tree the syrup came from," stated one of the accomplices in The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist during his trial. Over the span of several months, thieves staged a multi-million dollar heist from Québec's Global Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve, making off with about 3,000 tonnes of the stuff. Totaling about $18 million worth of maple syrup, this heist is one of the largest agricultural thefts ever.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Stand and deliver! Welcome to the final episode of our season about highway robbery and the outlaws who preyed upon road travelers. There were plenty of flinklock pistols, plenty of executions by hanging -- and plenty of confusion over who pulled off what crime. Don't forget to join Holly and Maria as they share their top shows and drinks inspired by these brigands' crimes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

French highwayman Nicolas-Jacques Pelletier rode and robbed the streets around 18th-century Paris, but didn't come to the attention of French authorities until October of 1791, after he was accused of a violent robbery. Among highwaymen, his crimes didn't really stand out; but what does stand out is that his execution was the first use of the guillotine, at the Place de Grève, on April 25, 1792.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tom Cox began his life as a gentleman with a small estate inherited from his father -- but he spent that small fortune in the blink of an eye with his, “riotous living.” Broke, Cox went to London to find work; and, he did find work, though it wasn't legal work. Tom fell in with a group of highway robbers, and quickly made a name for himself as bold, cunning, and … handsome.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People thought Jonathan Wild was a fine, upstanding kind of a guy: he was a thief-taker who was very good at catching criminals. The Privy Council, advisers to the Crown, consulted with him on methods of controlling crime in London. Highway robbers, a scourge on the city, feared him. But what most people did not know was that Jonathan, himself, was actually a very bad guy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

England has Robin Hood. Australia has Ned Kelly. Japan; Goemon Ishikawa. There are many legendary heroic outlaws in many cultures. Juraj Jánošík has, over the centuries, become known as the Robin Hood of Slovakia – and a symbol of Slovak resistance. Unlike some of these Robin Hood figures, Jánošík was 100 percent a real person, a real bandit who became a folk hero – and legend after his death. This is the story of Juraj Jánošík, an ordinary 17th century highway robber who became an enduring national hero.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

William Davis led a double life. He was a successful highway robber by night, and a respectable farmer by day. Farming was honest work, but, it was also a clever way to distract others from noticing that he had another life, that he was one of the most notorious highwaymen of the 17th century. He kept that criminal career secret for four decades, even from his wife and family. Let's talk about William's adventures -- good or bad, fact or fiction -- and how he got the nickname, the Golden Farmer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Never confused with the legend of Robin Hood or a 'gentleman robber' among highwaymen, there was really nothing to admire about Jerry Abershawe. He was a thief and he was a cold-blooded killer – several times over. Ruthless and intimidating, he was a "nightmare for travellers on those approach roads to London." There are stories boasting of Jerry's numerous and daring highway robbery acts – but, it's his behavior from capture to execution that gives us a chance to see who he was without his flintlock pistol.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jocelin Harwood was a highwayman who committed such “Barbarous Murders” – and he was just so ...wow – that his fellow criminal associates betrayed him and gave him up to the authorities after they couldn't stomach his depraved behavior the night of his final crime. Described as "a degenerate plant from a good tree," which seems like a pretty apt description, Jocelin's story has never been confused with the legend of Robin Hood. He was insolent; he was violent; and, this is his bloody story.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

William Spiggot was an 18th century English highwayman and the leader of a gang of at least eight men. While he may have started out as an apprentice cabinetmaker in London, he didn't end up following his family's legit path in life, instead deciding on a more... felonious one - as a robber, poacher, burglar, and murderer -- until he was sentenced to peine forte et dure.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Nevison was a very good highwayman, though you may not recognize his name. And that's largely because his crimes have, over the years, gotten attributed to the stories of other notorious highway robbers, notably Dick Turpin – who hadn't yet been born when Nevison was prowling the roads. Turpin's romanticized legend seems to be a magnet for many things he didn't do. Much about Nevison's life is a bit of a mystery, partly because of that confusion with his cohorts. Let's look at those conflicting tales.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Though dealing in counterfeit currency may have been David 'Davy' Lewis' first criminal efforts, he eventually added highway robbery as a lucrative gig – and that's when he gained the nickname, Robber Lewis -- and as a highwayman, he also came to be known as the “Robin Hood of Pennsylvania". Was he? Well, that may be a stretch – maybe a big stretch -- but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a good story, right?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joan Phillips was a known beauty with an artful and cunning mind -- and both her looks and the famiy's money attracted the attention of many suitors – suitors that Joan wasn't interested in. But all that stuff about engagement, marriage, and relationships changed when Joan met Edward Bracey, the only suitor who caught her eye.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the tale (and legend) of the Dunsdon brothers: Thomas, Richard, and Henry – yes, a real life Tom, Dick and Harry. Known as the Burford Highwaymen, they terrorized the locals between Glouster and Oxford. But the crime the brothers are best known for committing actually had nothing to do with highway robbery -- but it did include amputation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Some highwaymen were straight-up thugs. But some, like Claude Duval, were highwaymen who were polite, chivalrous, and sometimes portrayed as a version of Robin Hood – although none of them gave their loot to those less fortunate. Opinions differ among biographers and historians when it comes to Claude's life, but he ultimately became a folk legend – with some truth and some truth-is - and in the end, it's believed he was the 'Gentleman Robber' who paved the way for future depictions and adventures of the chivalrous highwayman.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

English gentlewoman and heiress named Lady Katherine Ferrers who, as a highwaywoman known as The Wicked Lady, terrorized England in the mid-1600s. Her legend persists nearly 400 years after her death -- though it may be a bit embellished.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the final episode of our season about cold cases -- unsolved crimes, where the perpetrator was never identified and there are no active leads. Whether it’s murders, robberies, or kidnappings, this season was full of all types of unresolved crimes. There were plenty of investigations, and a few acquittals, but no known offenders were ever brought to justice -- still today. And, don't forget to join Holly and Maria as they share their top shows and drinks inspired by these crimes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amber Hagerman had long brown hair and freckles. She liked playing with her Barbie dolls, and was a Girl Scout. But on the afternoon of January 13, 1996, everything changed. Amber, age 9, was abducted while riding her pink bicycle in an abandoned Winn-Dixie parking lot in Arlington, Texas; only two-tenths of a mile from her grandparents' house. It only took eight minutes for Amber to disappear. This episode is about the legacy of third-grader Amber Hagerman, who inspired America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response, popularly known as AMBER alerts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was her smile, everyone said, that was the first thing you noticed about Andrea Buchanan. People called her "Miss Personality," and spoke of her as being a “free spirit with much energy and vitality.” Andrea was a rising professional tennis star who was murdered, at age 26, while she was working in a restaurant in Los Angeles. Here's what happened.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Twenty-one-year-old Jean Townsend's body was discovered the morning of September 15, 1954, around 7 a.m., in an empty lot just 600 yards from where she lived on Bempton Drive in South Ruislip. She had spent the evening at a party with friends at a nightclub called the Pyramid Club, not far from her work in London's West End -- but she never made it home.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The press nicknamed the killings, 'the Torso Murders'. They called the killer, who had murdered, dismembered, and decapitated at least a dozen people, 'The Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run', an area of Cleveland where most of the victims were found. The majority have never been identified -- and neither has the killer. Brace yourself for some ugly details.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Las Cruces, New Mexico, newspapers reported on March 1, 1908: "Pat F. Garrett ... fulfilled his own prophecy ... that he would die with his boots on. Garrett was killed ... between 10 and 11 o'clock on the road to his Bear Canyon ranch at a point five miles from [Las Cruces]." Best known as a lawman and the guy who fatally shot Billy the Kid, Pat's life was high-profile. When it comes to his death, though, a lot of questions remain. Was it a conspiracy? Or was he shot in self-defense? People had thoughts about what happened – and still do.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ambrose Bierce was an American Civil War veteran, and he was also a writer: he was one of the most famous journalists of the late 19th century; he was a literary critic, a poet and a short story writer (primarily exploring themes of war, death, and the general absurdity that is life). And he is also one of the biggest disappearing acts of the 20th century. When he was 71 years old, Bierce rode into Mexico, and that's about the last anyone ever heard from him. Of course, there are plenty of theories about what happened. Follow Brandon on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brandonkylegoodman Join the C'Heauxmunity at https://brandonkylegoodman.substack.com/ Submit your own messy story or question at [email protected] or call ‪(669) 696-3779See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Texarkana was a bit of a bustling town back in 1946, but it wasn't a particularly dangerous town. But beginning in February that year, a series of brutal attacks occurred over a span of 10 weeks. Three victims were seriously wounded and five were killed; and they were all attacked at night. Let's talk about who they were and the investigations that led ... no where.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It was early morning, about 6 a.m., on November 13, 1536, when Robert Pakington, a London merchant, was fatally shot while on his way to attend early Mass. It was the first recorded firearm crime in London's history, and a crime that has never been solved -- though there are some theories to talk about, even this long time later.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Edward Hall, a minister, and Eleanor Mills, a member of his choir, were found together, dead, on an improvised 'lovers' lane' near an abandoned farmhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in September of 1922. Edward had been a popular minister at St. John’s Episcopal Church, and was the husband of Frances Stevens Hall, an heir to the Johnson and, she sang soprano in the choir at St. John's. Hall and Mills had been having an affair for a few years; and it had been a poorly kept secret. But the best kept secret is: who killed them?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the story of the unsolved death of Mabel Greenwood; who killed her, and why no one knows what really happened 100 years later. The prime suspect in the case? Harold Greenwood, her husband of more than 20 years, was arrested on June 17, 1920, accused of fatally poisoning her. Let's look at what happened, the messy trial, and the one detail that got Harold acquitted. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If there had been true crime podcasts in the year 1800, this sensational murder trial would have been a hot topic under discussion: a young woman was killed just before Christmas in New York City, on the night she was to elope with her lover. The prime suspect was Levi Weeks, her presumptive fiancé, but he denied to authorities they had any relationship – and his defense team was the hottest trio of lawyers in town. This is the story of Elma Sands, and how the criminal justice system never established what really happened to her or who was to blame.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Belle Starr, 'Petticoat Terror of the Plains', once said of herself, quote, “I regard myself as a woman who has seen much of life.” On the American frontier, she was thought of as “a demon with a bloody knife between her teeth and a pistol in each hand terrorizing whole communities and making deputy marshals hit the high places.” She lived a larger-than-life life, that's for sure. But there's one big missing detail: what no one knows is, who shot her in the back? And why?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tylenol has been for decades the best-selling, non-prescription pain reliever in the United States. It used to come as gelatin capsules, pills that were possible to open, and that meant anyone could remove its active ingredient, acetaminophen, and replace the contents with ... anything else. And someone did, resulting in the deaths of seven people by cyanide poisoning. Holly and Maria look at how the case unfolded, and how more than 40 years later, the identity of the person who tampered with Tylenol is still unknown.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On August 7, 1972, Jeannette DePalma disappeared in Springfield, New Jersey, four days after her 16th birthday. That afternoon, she told her mom she was going to see friends, but when she didn't return later that evening, her mother called the police; the police discovered she never made it to her friend's house. When her body was discovered six weeks later, investigators suspected she may have overdosed; many others suspected she was sacrificed in an occult ritual. Five decades later, it's still a mystery. Welcome to a new season of Criminalia, where we're exploring historical cold cases.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the final episode of our season about partners in crime -- some of whom were criminal duos, some of whom worked in gangs, but, unlike what we've found in some of our previous seasons, most of these people were absolutely guilty as charged. This season had quite a variety of crimes and criminals, everything from dirty cops who moonlighted with the mob to America's first serial killers. Join Holly and Maria as they share their top shows and drinks inspired by these criminal duos. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Two gaudily-dressed 'Brooklyn cowboys' attempted a desert train robbery”, reported the Associated Press on November 25, 1937. Henry Loftus and Harry Donaldson have been referred to as, "the last of America's classic train robbers," but the pair weren't professional criminals. This is the story of two men who wanted their lives to be like those they read about in Western-dime novels – but didn't realize they were decades too late.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Led by Matthew Kimes and Ray Terrill, the Kimes–Terrill Gang were known for successfully pulling off some very high-profile bank robberies -- but they may have been better known for their daring prison escapes. In the lore of their gang it's said that each member swore a blood oath promising to free other members from their prison cells – even if it meant they, themselves, were apprehended or killed while trying to spring a fellow associate. While that may be just part of their legend, it does very much seem to be true when you hear their story. Prison, say modern historians, was nothing more than, quote, “just another occupational hazard.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Herman Webster Mudgett of New Hampshire, better known by the alias H.H. Holmes, was responsible for anywhere from 20 to 200 killings before he was apprehended in 1894, and is known as one of America’s first serial killers. But ... not THE first. That title -– at least on record -- belongs to the Harpes: "Big" and "Little" Harpe, who killed at least 40 men, women, and children – and likely more. Be warned, this may be the most violent episode we have yet told.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When the priest asked, "Are you penitent, my son?", Samuel Green, with the rope around his neck and standing at the gallows, said with a smirk, "If you wish it." On their best days, Samuel Green and William Ash were burglars, highway robbers, and counterfeiters. On their worst; violent murderers. This is the story of their criminal career.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the Ambush Museum in Gibson, Louisiana, hangs a copy of a poem written by a woman named Blanche Barrow, and it reads: "Across the fields of yesterday / She sometimes calls to me / A little girl just back from play / the girl I used to be / And yet she smiles so wistfully / once she has crept within I wonder if she hopes to see / the woman I might have been." For four months, Blanche found herself a member of the outlaw Barrow gang – along with the famously known, Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow. The story of Bonnie and Clyde is woven into American lore; but there was more than one criminal in the Barrow family: Clyde's long-time outlaw older brother Marvin 'Buck' Barrow AND his reluctant-criminal ride-or-die wife, Blanche.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

'Pretty Boy' Flloyd. John Dillinger. The Barkers. A lot of well-known gangsters emerged in the 1920s and 1930s; all of them criminals known as 'public enemies' to the government, and highly sought after by authorities, as you can imagine. But lesser known are the hideouts these criminals used -- and the people who ran those illegal safe houses. This is the story of husband and wife, Herb and Esther Farmer, who ran such an establishment. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Catherine Flannagan and her younger sister Margaret moved to Liverpool from Ireland in the late 1800s, they were among the tens of thousands of poverty-stricken Irish laborers and their families who left Ireland during the potato famine to find work in Britain during the Industrial Revolution. To make their money, Catherine and Margaret established and ran a boarding house. In short time, the house was filled to capacity with lodgers. But there was one problem: guests were dying in suspiciously similar circumstances.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were Italian immigrants who were – controversially – convicted of murdering Alessandro Berardelli and Frederick Parmenter, a security guard and a payroll clerk, during an armed robbery of the Slater and Morrill Shoe Company in Massachusetts. About a century has passed and experts -- and armchair experts, too! – continue to debate this case, but not whether they did or didn't do it. They continue to debate one very big thing: whether or not Sacco and Vanzetti received a fair trial. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mary Blandy was desperate to marry, but none of her suitors met the stringent standards set by her father -- until she met William Cranstoun, son of a Scottish peer. But her engagement to him turned out to be her downfall; William was already married. When it was divulged, her father did not approve the engagement, but William "had a method of conciliating [her father's] esteem" -- and it involved feeding her father a 'love powder' to soften him up a bit. The love powder turned out to be arsenic, and Mary killed her father by administering it. Though she claimed she didn't know, there were clues she maybe did. The question remains: Was she a partner to this crime, or wasn't she?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Verne Sankey told his wife he and his gang were planning a kidnapping, he said, if “I don’t come back, don't identify my body.” Verne and his accomplice, Gordon Alcorn, were a pair of Depression-era outlaws whose successful high-profile kidnappings of Haskell Bohn, heir to Bohn Refrigeration, and millionaire Charles Boettcher II turned them into two of the most wanted criminals in the United States – in fact, their success inspired other gangsters to try kidnapping as a lucrative gig, and prompted FBI director J. Edgar Hoover to name Verne America's very first 'Public Enemy'.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On January 9, 1990, a bank robber nicknamed the Bearded Bandit entered the First Nationwide Bank in Wilmette, Illinois, disguised with a false beard, a baseball cap, dark sunglasses, and driving gloves. He carried a gun and police radio scanner, and threatened bank employees that he'd, ”blow their brains out.” While he collected from the vault, his wife prepared their getaway. The Ericksons, a husband-and-wife bank robbing duo, committed a series of armed robberies in the Chicago area in 1990 andd 1991. And when it ended, it was in a dramatic and desperate way. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A man walked into the Corn Exchange Bank at Elkton, South Dakota, on the afternoon of August 25, 1938, and announced, quote, “This is a holdup.” Bennie and Stella Dickson were Depression-era bank robbers and outlaws who successfully stole what authorities then estimated to be more than $50,000 over an eight-month period. They were tagged by the FBI as Public Enemies No. 1 and 2., and J. Edgar Hoover, who led the bureau at that time, compared them to other notorious criminals of the era including John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, “Babyface” Nelson, and “Pretty Boy” Floyd. That's quite a cast of crooks. But were they?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.