Crimes of the Centuries

When Horst Wessel died in 1930, he was an obscure 22-year-old member of the SA. Within months, Joseph Goebbels had elevated him into a saint of the Third Reich, complete with a theme song that would echo through rallies, classrooms, and pogroms. This episode traces how a violent street thug became the most famous Nazi martyr — and why his name still matters in extremist circles today.

Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes on th...

London in the early 1930s was captivated by the Bright Young Things — aristocratic sons and daughters whose glittering parties and endless scandals filled the tabloids. Among them was Elvira Mullens Barney, a socialite whose beauty and notoriety made her one of the set’s most talked-about figures. But on the morning of May 31, 1932, the headlines turned deadly. Her lover, Michael Scott Stephen, was found shot in her West End flat. Was it murder, a tragic accident, or something in between?

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made...

Despite police informants thwarting one of his deadly plans, cult leader Jeffrey Lundgren’s appetite for violence couldn’t be satiated. When one target was out of reach, he simply shifted his sights to another — this time, a family who trusted him completely. They had followed him to Ohio believing he was a prophet of God, searching for salvation. What they found instead was a man who believed that some sins could only be cleansed through blood atonement — and a group of followers willing to do his bloody bidding.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Coll...

In 1980s Ohio, Jeffrey Lundgren wasn’t just studying scripture — he was twisting it into something dangerous. To outsiders, he was a soft-spoken tour guide at a historic church site. But behind closed doors, Lundgren was preaching a radical new theology, gathering followers and slowly convincing them that he spoke for God. His target? The Kirtland Temple — once the holiest site in the Latter Day Saint movement.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episod...

For a brief, dazzling moment in early 1990s New York, biographer Lee Israel became one of the most notorious literary forgers of all time. Out of money, out of friends, and with a sick cat to care for, Israel turned her biographer’s research skills and her sharp wit toward a new craft: fabricating letters from Dorothy Parker, Noël Coward, Louise Brooks, and more. Her forgeries fooled collectors, corrupted archives and spread into the market as “authentic” pieces of history.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that ma...

It was the score of all scores: a $6 million haul in cash and jewels lifted from JFK Airport in 1978. The headlines called it the Lufthansa heist; Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas turned it into legend. But the real story was messier: dozens of suspects, no recovered loot, and a trail of bodies that grew almost as fast as the FBI’s frustration.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes on the Grab Bag Patreon page...

In the piney woods of East Texas in 1910, a mob of white men stormed through the Black community of Slocum, murdering dozens — possibly hundreds — of unarmed residents. The killers faced almost no consequences, and the survivors were silenced by fear. Over a century later, even basic recognition of the Slocum Massacre remains a battle. This is the story of the slaughter Texas tried to forget, and the people still fighting to be remembered.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You...

Crime doesn’t take a day off. And neither does Crime House Daily.
Hosted by self-defense instructor and advocate for victims, Katie Ring, Crime House Daily is coming to you twice every weekday, covering the biggest crime stories as they unfold. Morning episodes give you the need-to-know. The latest headlines, breaking developments, and where things are going next. Evening episodes go deeper. Into the people, the evidence, and the moments that matter most. The pursuit of justice never stops. And with Crime House Daily, you won’t have to either.
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When a major German magazine announced it had uncovered Adolf Hitler’s long-lost diaries, the world took notice. But what began as a journalistic coup turned into a scandal that rattled media empires — and left a permanent stain on the truth.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes on the Grab Bag Patreon page. 

Join us for video versions of the podcast on YouTube, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centu...

The murder of Barbara Hamburg might read like fiction — a bitter divorce, a mysterious pyramid scheme, a family full of secrets — but for her son Madison, it was all too real. In 2010, Barbara was found bludgeoned to death outside her home in the affluent shoreline town of Madison, Connecticut. In this episode, we explore a case that captivated author Megan Abbott, inspired her novel El Dorado Drive, and remains unsolved 15 years later.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can...

This week on Crimes of the Centuries, we’re breaking from tradition. Instead of a crime from decades past, we’re looking at a case that’s still shaping headlines — and raising questions that may take years to answer. When Boston police officer John O’Keefe was found dead in the snow outside a fellow cop’s home, his girlfriend, Karen Read, was accused of running him down with her SUV in a fit of drunken rage. Prosecutors said it was an open-and-shut case. But as two trials unfolded, evidence of sloppy policing, possible cover-ups, and investigative misconduct began to surface. Wit...

In 1981, 21-year-old Danny Hansford was shot and killed inside one of Savannah’s grandest mansions. The man who pulled the trigger, antiques dealer Jim Williams, claimed self-defense. What followed was a legal circus resulting in four high-profile trials. Then, less than a year later after the dust settled, Williams was dead. This is the case that inspired Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, the bestselling book that turned Savannah into a gothic brand. But the real story is messier than the myth.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes fr...

Bella Wright was a shy, working-class woman whose life was cut short on a summer night in 1919, just short of her 22nd birthday. At first, her death looked like a tragic accident – until a single bullet found lodged in the dirt road changed everything. What followed was a century-long mystery involving an unshaven man on a distinctive green bicycle, a suspiciously dismantled frame dredged from a river, and a murder trial that gripped the nation. With early forensics, conflicting testimony and possible testimony that came too late, this is a case that refuses to rest.

"Crimes of the Ce...

Laura Fair wanted what many women in Gilded-Age San Francisco wanted: security, respectability, and a husband who told the truth. What she got instead was a years-long affair and a heap of public scorn. When a single gunshot rang out aboard a crowded ferry, it set off a national debate about morality, madness, and how far a woman could be pushed. Based on real letters, real lies, and a courtroom drama that captivated 19th century America.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and...

You’d think the guy helping build the deadliest weapon in history would be someone the Allies vetted carefully. You’d be wrong. Klaus Fuchs was a physicist, a refugee, and a trusted member of the Manhattan Project. He was also a Soviet spy. His quiet betrayal helped the USSR test its first atomic bomb years ahead of schedule—ending America’s monopoly on nuclear weapons and setting the stage for the Cold War. All in the name of “peace.”

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark...

In 1974, 28-year-old Karen Silkwood left her home with a binder full of evidence and a plan to blow the whistle on dangerous conditions at the plutonium plant where she worked. She never arrived. What followed was a national uproar, a swirl of conspiracy theories, and a battle over the truth that still echoes today.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes on the Grab Bag Patreon page. 

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE C...

Jerry Sandusky was a legend at Penn State University. As the right hand of head football coach Joe Paterno, he was known not only as an exceptional coach but also as a big-hearted philanthropist and advocate for troubled youth. So when a 2011 grand jury report exposed decades of abuse, the fallout was immeasurable, bringing to light a story of power, silence, and the cost of looking the other way.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early...

In 1935, 12-year-old Lillian Gobitas and her little brother William were kicked out of their Pennsylvania public school — not for misbehaving, but for quietly refusing to salute the flag, which they believed went against their Jehovah’s Witness faith. Their dad sued, arguing the school had violated their right to religious freedom. But in a sweeping decision, the Supreme Court sided with the school, saying national unity outweighed First Amendment protections. The ruling sparked a wave of violence against Jehovah’s Witnesses across the country, and fueled criticism the Court had abandoned core constitutional rights.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a p...

Crimes Of The Centuries is dark again this week, so here is an episode that you might not have heard previously... or might just want to listen to again.

When news spread that a high-profile comedian was killed in a murder-suicide in 1998, the response was disbelief: Phil Hartman wasn't just famous for being funny. He was even better known for being a good-hearted guy. The shocking story behind the deaths of Hartman and his wife, Brynn, not only made international headlines, but it shook the entertainment industry and changed how people talked about substance abuse and mental health...

While Crimes of the Centuries takes a brief summer break, enjoy a guest episode from Josh at The Wild West Extravaganza. This one’s a doozy: It’s the story of "Black Jack" Ketchum — a train robber whose criminal exploits made headlines across the American frontier. But it was his botched execution that really cemented his place in Wild West lore. This is one of those cases where the truth is not only stranger than fiction — it’s also way bloodier.

Find more here: Wild West Extravaganza

In late 1910 and early 1911, a band of impulsive Latvian radicals fleeing persecution in Russia unleashed a wave of violence in London that left three policemen dead and part of a quiet city block in ruins. The siege that followed would not only transform British law enforcement but also mark a turning point in media history, as cameras captured the chaos in real time.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes on the Grab...

When Berry Stoll returned from work on Oct. 10, 1934, the scene greeting him was pure chaos: His maid was tied up, his wife was missing and a terrifying pool of blood covered one of the beds. Alice Speed Stoll had been kidnapped by a smooth-talking, well-dressed man who claimed to be a phone repairman. What followed was a tense and twisted saga of ransom demands, narrow escapes, and a desperate manhunt that captured the country’s attention and embarrassed the FBI.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that ma...

One Sunday morning in 1997, a security guard noticed the front fence at Loomis Fargo in Charlotte, North Carolina, was ajar. So was the warehouse door. And the vault inside was fitted with a suspicious time lock. When authorities finally opened the vault the next day, they found it completely empty, the target of one of the largest cash thefts in US history. The manhunt that followed would grip the nation as authorities raced to track down the inside man who they believed vanished with millions.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten...

In 1952, Ruby McCollum left two of her children in her car as she casually walked into a doctor's office in Live Oak, Florida, and shot Dr. C. Leroy Adams — a respected white physician and newly elected state senator. But what seemed like a clear-cut case of murder over a disputed medical bill soon unraveled into a story of power, race, sexual violence, and silence in the Jim Crow South.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early an...

When Henrietta Lacks discovered a tumor inside of her in 1951, she turned to Johns Hopkins Medical Center for help. They examined her cells and discovered two things: First, she had cervical cancer. And second, her cells, for reasons we still can't explain, multiplied at astonishing rates, allowing doctors and pharmaceutical companies to use them to conduct all sorts of valuable research. Without Lacks knowledge or consent, her cells have been used to do amazing things, like create vaccinations for polio and HPV. But her case is most noteworthy for the ethical questions it forced us to face regarding medical consent...

Murder: True Crime Stories explores the depths of history's most notorious murders, like you've never heard before. Go beyond the crime scene as we search for the real story, and focus on the people impacted the most. Whether or not the case is solved, you'll come away with an understanding of why these stories need to be told.

Murder: True Crime Stories is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios. New episodes drop every Tuesday. Follow now wherever you get your podcasts.

A band of nerdy geology enthusiasts were sure the email they received in 2002 was a hoax: The unsolicited message said that its writer was in possession of moon rocks that he was willing to sell. But moon rocks were among the most valuable objects on earth and anyone who knew anything about NASA knew that not only was owning them illegal, but it was impossible. One email recipient reached out to the FBI and was instructed to pose as an interested buyer, triggering one of the most outlandish heists in history.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast...

When 25-year-old Tim Evans was hanged for killing his wife and 14-month-old daughter in 1949, few outside of his family questioned whether justice had been done. After all, Evans had at one point confessed to the crimes. But during his trial he recanted, saying that a neighbor had killed his 20-year-old wife Beryl during a botched abortion attempt. It seemed a ludicrous attempt at diversion -- until that same neighbor was himself revealed to be a serial killer just three years later. The questions sparked by the case helped fuel a movement to halt the death penalty in Britain.

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In 1953, a horrific discovery was made behind some hastily hung wallpaper in a flat at 10 Rillington Place in London's Notting Hill neighborhood: The decomposing bodies of three women. Another body was found beneath floor boards, and two more skeletons were recovered from the backyard garden. Soon, a nationwide manhunt was under way for John Reginald Christie, a man author Kate Summerscale describes as "terrifyingly ordinary." His case not only gripped the UK but it sparked debate about another horrifying crime that had occurred in the same building just three years prior.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast...

As American journalists worked to cover the Vietnam War, one of their colleagues proved a valuable asset: Pham Xuan An had been born in Vietnam, and was therefore able to help his coworkers navigate the ins and outs of an unfamiliar culture. His work was praised as detailed, empathetic and unbiased. It would be years later that the truth finally came out, revealing that the journalist was in fact a South Vietnamese spy whose access to top-ranking military briefings helped ensure thousands of American deaths during the conflict.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag...

In the 1990s, Dr. Jack Kevorkian ignited a firestorm when he began helping to end the lives of people who said they were terminally ill. Over the years, he claimed to have assisted in the deaths of more than 130 people, all while challenging police and prosecutors who vowed to stop him. His first four trials ended in three acquittals and a mistrial, but as his antics grew more daring, so, too, did the legal system's fervor to put him behind bars. His legacy is divisive, but few can argue that he single-handedly forced America to confront its stance on physician-assisted...

For much of their outlaw careers, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid weren't the inseparable duo that Hollywood made us believe with its 1969 depiction of the pair. But the movie isn't the only reason the two are inextricably linked: The two members of the Wild West crew known as The Wild Bunch were wanted men when they opted in 1901 to disappear together. The official story is that the pair died in a shoot-out with the Bolivian army, but more than a century later, questions remain.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten...

Crimes Of The Centuries is dark this week, but we hope you'll enjoy this episode of Strange And Unexplained with Daisy Eagan.

In the 1930s, some shadowy figures approached a decorated and beloved Marine with a plot to overthrow the government and replace FDR with someone much more friendly to the wealthy. If only they hadn't chosen Smedley Butler to do their bidding, we might be living in a very different world today.

"Strange and Unexplained" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab & Three Goose Entertainment and is a journey into the uncomfortable and the unknowable...

As the audience was settling in for an evening of entertainment in one of the swankiest nightclubs in the Midwest, a busboy approached the mic and asked everyone to exit the sprawling building. Soon, the place was engulfed. The May 28, 1977, fire at the Beverly Hills Supper Club was a deadly disaster that subsequent investigations found was not only preventable, but had been predicted, too. The lawsuits that followed changed the landscape of class-action litigation in America.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and...

To outsiders, John List was a mild-mannered, church-going father of three whose oddest trait was mowing the lawn in a suit and tie. But then the bodies of his wife, mother and three children were uncovered rotting in the family's Westfield, New Jersey, home in late 1971. This was no whodunit: List left notes explaining not only what he'd done, but why he claimed he had to do it. Then he disappeared, becoming one of America's most wanted criminals.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a...

William Mulholland was summoned to the St. Francis Dam in San Francisquito Canyon early March 12, 1928, to inspect some leaks that workers found worrisome. Mulholland shrugged off the concerns and declared the dam -- the 19th he'd designed alone to feed water to the parched desert of Los Angeles -- perfectly safe. Hours later, the dam gave way, releasing billions of gallons of water downstream, killing more than 400 people.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and...

Sex workers began disappearing in the Rochester, New York, area at an alarming rate in the late 1980s. When their strangled and mutilated bodies were later discovered, it was clear they were being targeted by a sick killer with a distinct MO. It turned out that the man behind the killings, Arthur Shawcross, had already killed before.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes on the Grab Bag Patreon page. 

DON'T F...

On this Friday Follow-Up, we update with information brought to us by two descendants of an important latter-day figure in the case.  After 4-year-old Charley Ross vanished in a carriage with two men who'd offered him candy and fireworks, police at first told his father to wait it out. Surely the men had no bad intentions. Then came the first ransom letter. And another. And another. In 1874, the Charley Ross case marked the first time in American history that a child had been stolen for money.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring f...

When a well-dressed man approached a Los Angeles junior high school in 1927 asking for his coworker Perry Parker's daughter, the woman at the front desk should have immediately sensed something was off. Parker didn't have one daughter at the school; he had two. When the man clarified he wanted the "younger" Parker girl, that should have struck the office marm as odder still because the girls were twins. Still, Mary Holt summoned 12-year-old Marion Parker to leave school grounds -- a deadly decision that would soon haunt her and the rest of the nation.

"Crimes of the Centuries"...

Crime House True Crime Stories is the ultimate destination for true crime fans. Every episode features two notorious cases from that week in crime history, tied by a common theme like infamous serial killers, mysterious disappearances, tragic murders, and more. Every Monday, uncover the full stories behind the headlines as host Vanessa Richardson takes you through high-profile investigations like the murder of Gabby Petito, the kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart, and the mass suicide of the Heaven's Gate cult. Follow Crime House True Crime Stories — a Crime House Original — wherever you listen to podcasts. 

Most people know the story of Anne Frank, the young Jewish girl who hid in a secret attic for two years with six other people to avoid the Nazis, but a question still festers 80 years later: Who turned them in and sealed their fates?

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes on the Grab Bag Patreon page. 

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order todayat www.centuriespod.com/bo...

Mark Whitacre, a high-ranking exec at the agribusiness company Archer Daniels Midland, approached the FBI with some scandalous news: His employer was part of an international cartel illegally inflating the cost of lysine, an additive used in animal feed. What Whitacre ultimately helped uncover landed more than just his bosses in prison.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes on the Grab Bag Patreon page. 

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF T...

After recovering from Stage 4 testicular cancer, cyclist Lance Armstrong not only got his health back, but he became one of the sport's highest profile figures, winning seven Tour de France races in a row. While he insisted -- repeatedly and under oath -- that he'd earned those wins without the help of performance-enhancing drugs, one of his past teammates stepped forward to tell a different story.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes...

In 1944, the brutal slayings of two young girls made plenty of headlines in Alcolu, South Carolina. The trial of their suspected killer garnered far less attention -- even when he was convicted and violently executed in the electric chair. That's because few people had much sympathy for the boy who supposedly confessed to the crime. Nearly a century later, however, and 14-year-old George Stinney Jr. is not only recognized as the youngest person legally executed in America in the 20th century, but he's also largely recognized as being wrongfully convicted.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from...

Students at Pantglas Junior School had just settled in at their desks the morning of Oct. 21, 1966, when an avalanche of slurry swept through the building, trapping hundreds of children and teachers and wiping out nearby homes and businesses. Known as the Aberfan Disaster, the collapse of a colliery spoil tip ultimately killed 116 children and 28 adults. While the official cause was weeks of heavy rain, what happened was no mere act of God.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You...

As the world descended on Norway for the 1994 Winter Olympics, a determined thief set his sights on a Norweigian painting he'd coveted most of his life: Edvard Munch's The Scream. The daring theft of the world-renowned painting took less than a minute and prompted an undercover sting in hopes of retrieving the masterpiece.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes on the Grab Bag Patreon page. 

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES O...

On Thanksgiving week in 1849, Boston doctor and Harvard graduate George Parkman went for a walk and never returned home. The last place he'd been spotted was near the college's medical school, where he'd stopped for a meeting with Harvard chemistry professor John White Webster. The case that unfolded not only made international headlines but it threatened the reputation of America's oldest university.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes on the Grab Bag...

Host Mel Barrett investigates a famous murder case that has split the community in her home state of New Hampshire right down the middle for thirty-four years. It’s a closed case, but based on what Mel uncovers this season in old police files (including surreptitiously recorded wiretaps), never before heard interviews, and a bombshell post trial interview with a juror that’s been hidden away, Mel is about to blow the case wide open.

On this season of The In Between Podcast, the Accomplice to Murder Trial of Pamela Smart goes under the microscope and Mel finds new...

Crimes of the Centuries presents one of Amber's favorite episodes from Season One. Happy holidays everyone!

In 1859, two of Washington, D.C.'s highest-profile men were in love with the same woman -- and that love triangle would lead to the broad-daylight shooting of one of them just a stone's throw from the White House. The victim had been the first-born son of Francis Scott Key, author of the lyrics to America's national anthem. And his killer would be the first in the country to argue a defense of temporary insanity.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is...

We are bringing you part two of the "Sunny" von Bülow story as a Bonus episode! 

When heiress and socialite Martha "Sunny" von Bülow was found unresponsive on the bathroom floor, her husband seemed awfully quick to pull the plug when doctors declared her comatose. Suspicions only grew when investigators discovered that Claus von Bülow had a mistress who'd given him an ultimatum to leave Sunny or else. But what seemed at first glance as an open-and-shut case turned out to be anything but.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag...

To outsiders, Claus and Martha "Sunny" von Bülow seemed an idyllic couple on the upper echelons of high society, but those who knew them best were growing increasingly concerned in the late 1970s when Sunny began having health scares that doctors couldn't figure out. Claus said his wife was a depressed alcoholic, but Sunny's children and maid weren't so sure. Things took a tragic turn after Christmas of 1980, captivating the country and beyond with one of the highest-profile cases of the 20th century. 

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes fr...

We all know Adolph Hitler as a mediocre artist-turned-genocidal dictator, but did you know that he pulled off the greatest art heist the world has ever seen? As World War II unfolded across Europe, Hitler directed his Nazis to steal countless masterpieces from every country they traversed. He kept his favorites, while others were hidden in castles and salt mines to be unearthed after the war ended. Many of the pieces have never been recovered.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped...

The morning of June 12, 1962, alarms sounded at the federal prison on Alcatraz Island when guards conducting a head count came up three inmates short. In the prisoners' beds were decoy heads that bought the men enough time to escape the supposedly inescapable prison known as The Rock. The trio -- Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin -- had used handmade tools to dig tunnels and craft makeshift rafts to brave the cold and turbulent waters of the Pacific in their bid for freedom.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten...

On January 17, 1950, a throng of men wearing superhero Halloween masks stormed into the headquarters of Brink's in Boston, Massachusetts, and made off with nearly $2.8 million. For years, the case baffled federal authorities, who spent 10 times the amount stolen working to solve the crime.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes on the Grab Bag Patreon page. 

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order todayatwww.centuriespod.com/book (https://ww...

As a series of brush and building fires baffled most firefighters in the Los Angeles region, John Orr of the Glendale Fire Department seemed amazingly skilled at identifying the cause of each blaze. He was so skilled at his job, in fact, that he was routinely asked to train other firefighters. Turned out, though, there was a sinister reason for Orr's success.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes on the Grab Bag...

Between 1968 and 1985, eight sets of lovers were murdered during new moons in the Tuscany region of Italy. The mysterious and brutal slayings terrorized the region, made international headlines and fueled countless theories -- including one that the Monster of Florence and America's Zodiac Killer were one and the same.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes on the Grab Bag Patreon page. 

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Or...

As high-rolling televangelists, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker built a Christian media empire that included a theme park, broadcasting network and ministry funded by faithful viewers who believed the Bakkers when they said God would reward their investments 100-fold in this life and even more so in the next one. Then the feds got involved.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes on the Grab Bag Patreon page. 

DON'T FORGET ABOUT T...

In the wake of the 1919 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds, disturbing rumors began to swirl that sparked an investigation: Did members of the White Sox club -- including legendary "Shoeless Joe" Jackson -- conspire with professional gamblers to rig the outcome of the series?

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes on the Grab Bag Patreon page. 
DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Or...

A poor drifter named Clarence Earl Gideon had faced more than his share of legal run-ins over his lifetime, but when he was arrested in 1961 for allegedly stealing some drinks and quarters from a bar, he insisted he wasn't guilty -- and asked for an attorney to help him prove it. At the time, though, Florida law only provided defense lawyers in capital cases. After his conviction, Gideon sought to change that law throughout the nation.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and...

On this Friday Follow-Up, we tweak one of our earliest episodes after Amber's later research uncovered that an aspect of this case has been wrongly reported for decades. It was one of the most salacious stories the country had ever heard: A famous architect had been gunned down in front of an audience of hundreds by a man who said he was defending his wife's honor. It so happened the wife was the world's first supermodel. The love triangle among architect Stanford White, model and showgirl Evelyn Nesbit and millionaire unhinged man Harry Kendell Thaw reached its climax on June 24, 1906...

The town of New Brunswick, New Jersey, was rocked by the discovery of two bodies beneath a crabapple tree in September 1922. The remains belonged to Edward Hall, a local pastor, and Eleanor Mills, a member of the church's choir. The two were found entwined beneath the tree -- an odd positioning considering they'd both been married to other people. Suspicion soon fell as the lovers' spouses, turning the tawdry tale into a media circus that went far beyond the tabloids.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that...

Music legend Elvis Presley never knew it before he died, but the man he trusted with his career and money was not who he said he was. Col. Tom Parker had been born in the Netherlands, not in Huntington, W. Va., as he'd claimed. Parker -- born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk before arriving in the U.S. illegally -- upended the music industry with the unorthodox contracts he demanded, which lined his pockets more than anyone else's.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark...

Crimes Of The Centuries is dark this week, but if you liked last week's episode on former Detective Louis Scarcella, we think you'll like season one of The Burden. The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains and shines a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Listen wherever you get your podcasts!

When Det. Louis Scarcella retired in 1999, he was a New York City hero. He had closed dozens of homicide cases during his decades-long run as a cop nicknamed 'The Closer' for his ability to get suspects to confess to him. Years after he retired, however, one of his highest-profile cases got another look, and a judge exonerated the man convicted. Then came another overturned conviction and another. To date, 20 verdicts in Scarcella-led cases have been overturned -- and the number could keep climbing.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from...

Before Benedict Arnold's name became synonymous with 'traitor,' he had been hailed as a hero of the American Revolutionary War. His rise from militiaman to trusted ally of George Washington was the stuff of legends. But instead of being honored with, say, his likeness on American currency, he committed an act of treason so heinous that his name is still hurled as an insult to this day.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and...

In 1981, a 6-year-old boy accompanied his mother to a Sears department store, where she left him for mere minutes in the toy department. Two weeks later, the boy's head was discovered in a ditch. Learn how the horrifying case -- and the South Florida police department's decades-long bungling of it -- changed parenting in America.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes on the Grab Bag Patreon page. 

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The horrific killing of four members of the Clutter family in 1959 led author Truman Capote to write In Cold Blood, the book credited with launching true crime as a genre. But how much of what Capote wrote was as "immaculately factual" as the author led the world to believe?

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes on the Grab Bag Patreon page. 

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The Catholic Church lost its grip on England largely thanks to a woman who refused to quietly let her husband trade her in for a younger model. Catherine of Aragon's impact on Europe has lasted for centuries, and it all began with a single crime: bigamy.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

\DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)!

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Cassie Chadwick of Cleveland wasn't who she said she was. Even she admitted that -- though in her version, she wasn't the con artist daughter of a Canadian farmer, but rather the illegitimate daughter of Andrew Carnegie, America's wealthiest man. She used that lie to bilk businessmen, bankers and entire institutions out of boatloads of money, earning her place in history as one of the Gilded Age's most accomplished grifters.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

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Introducing a NEW investigation from the BBC’s World of Secrets podcast: The Apartheid Killer. All the victims were black and the youngest was just 12 years old. Some relatives are still searching for the graves. They were killed during a three-year bloodbath in the 1980s, in the South African city of East London – by one person. He killed so many, he lost count. It has been 30 years since the white supremacist apartheid regime crumbled. The unresolved trauma of this time has cast a long shadow across a nation. In piecing together this story, the new season of World of Secrets expo...

When several men dressed as cops entered the Isabella Gardner Museum in March of 1990, the nighttime security detail didn't think much of it -- until one of the "officers" handcuffed the guards' wrists and announced, "This is a robbery." Thirty-four years later, theories abound about who was behind the largest -- and most mystifying -- art heist in American history.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today a...

In 1932, hundreds of men in Tuskegee, Alabama, signed up for something they'd never had much access to: healthcare. The best part? It was free. Told for decades they were being treated for "bad blood," the participants were never informed they had tested positive for syphilis and were being studied by the US government to see how the disease progressed in Black men who were blocked from receiving readily available treatment.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

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After Munich, Germany, was named the host of the 1972 Olympic Games, organizers were determined to highlight the country's softer side after the horrors of World War II. This was, after all, the first Olympics to be held in Germany since 1936's Berlin Games, during which Hitler used the festivities to spread propaganda and Nazi ideology. Unfortunately, Munich's "softer side" went beyond a subdued color palette, leading to a porous Olympic Village that provided easy access to a deadly terrorist attack.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that...

When a handyman from Mobile, Alabama, was accused of stealing $1.95 from a woman who employed him in 1957, no one could have guessed the fervor it would cause, not just nationally but overseas. Jimmy Wilson was sentenced to death for the theft in a case that threatened America's reputation on a global scale.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.c...

Soon after London bade farewell to 1885 and welcomed the new year, a woman named Adelaide Bartlett roused her sleeping house with screams. Her husband, Edwin, who had seemed to have turned a corner on his recent illness, was dead. Housemates who arrived in a panic immediately noticed a chemical smell in the room that suggested Edwin hadn't died of natural causes. The case, which would soon be dubbed the Pimlico Poisoning, proved to be one of the most sensational in 19th-century England.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times...

Hey, Crimes of the Centuries listeners! COTC is dark for the next two weeks, but as a special bonus, here is another episode of The Catalyst, a true-crime podcast that publishes every other Friday exclusively to patreon.com/grabbagcollab. 
U.S. Air Force, Stalking, and Camping Trips. This is the story of The Boy Scout. 

Dive deep into the upbringing and backstories of individuals who committed history's most notorious crimes, shedding light on the psychological factors that shaped their paths. With a suspenseful twist, the identities of these individuals won’t be unveiled until the end of each...

In the 1970s, an aerospace firm in Redondo Beach, California, had the clever idea of handing over access to highly classified spy satellite secrets to a 20-something named Christopher Boyce. It didn't end well. Boyce and his high school buddy -- a drug dealer named Daulton Lee -- soon began selling that classified info to the Russians in a scheme that's still regarded today as one of the most damaging acts of espionage in U.S. history.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark...

After World War II stole a great many men from their loving wives, Lonely Hearts clubs were all the rage for lonely widows looking for love. A number of them thought they'd met their soul mates when they traded letters with a man calling himself Chris Martin who was so devoted to his family, he often had his sister in tow. In truth, those unsuspecting women were communicating with Ray Fernandez and his lover, Martha Beck, who would come to be known as the Lonely Hearts Club Killers.
"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab...

Randy Ayers was a 17-year-old high school senior when he was spotted at school and identified as the man who raped and tried to kill a 15-year-old girl in November 1981. It would take nine agonizing years -- and an unsolicited confession from a serial killer -- before Randy's case would change how prosecutors in Hamilton County, Ohio, treated eyewitness identification.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today a...

The 937 passengers aboard the M.S. St. Louis had every reason to be optimistic as they left Hamburg, Germany, on May 13, 1939. After years of their rights being slowly stripped away, the Jewish men, women and children felt lucky to be sailing off to start anew in Cuba. But once they spotted their destination, a new nightmare began.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.c...

When 26 California schoolchildren and their bus driver failed to show up after a swimming trip on the penultimate day of summer school, authorities launched a search that grew much more frantic after the school bus they'd been traveling in was discovered hidden in 20-foot-tall bamboo. What happened next shocked and befuddled the nation.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history

DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.c...

In 1898, a pair of killers stalked a worksite in the Tsavo region of Kenya. They evaded blockades and booby traps to torment hundreds of men who'd simply signed up to do a job but instead found themselves marked as prey for a seemingly unstoppable deadly duo.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history
DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)!
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In the 1960s, after losing all 10 of the babies they'd conceived, Marie Noe and her husband, Arthur, became the most famous bereaved parents in America, with most of the deaths attributed to "crib death," later called Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). After a journalist revisited the case in 1998, investigators took another look at the mysterious series of deaths, prompting Marie Noe to share a horrifying secret that had been weighing on her for more than 30 years.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and...

On September 6, 1949, 28-year-old World War II veteran Howard Unruh ate the breakfast his mother made him, then armed himself with a Luger pistol and walked calmly through his Camden, New Jersey, neighborhood, shooting everyone in sight. He told police afterward he'd had a kill list of specific people he'd felt had wronged him, but by the end of his 12-minute rampage, 13 would be fatally wounded, three of them innocent children.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history

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While the grift he deployed had been named for another man, Bernie Madoff took the concept of a Ponzi scheme and pumped it full of steroids, allowing it to keep him -- and plenty of others -- filthy rich for literally decades. In the end, Madoff bilked some $65 billion from thousands of clients, all while maintaining such a sheen of respectability that he was charged with helping write the very rules he himself eschewed.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change...

Italian-born Charles Ponzi had grown up hearing from his mother that he was destined for greatness, so it was no surprise to her when she visited him in America to find him wealthy beyond her wildest dreams. Ponzi had come up with a get-rich-quick scheme that he insisted was legal. To his credit, it took federal authorities a good seven months to figure out how it wasn't. In this episode, meet the man whose name would go down in history to be synonymous with "grifter."
 
"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten c...

In the midst of nationwide bombings that pit union backers against anti-union bosses, an explosion at the Los Angeles Times building crossed a line that changed everything. At 1:07 a.m. on Oct. 1, 1910, a blast tore through the Times building, killing 21 people. Times officials immediately blamed organized labor, which ultimately bore out: Not only were three union-affiliated co-conspirators convicted soon after the bombing, but nearly 40 other union officials would eventually be convicted on charges related to that and other bombings that had been plaguing the country.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten...

In September 1944, a 24-year-old married woman named Recy Taylor was walking home with friends from church when a carload of seven men stopped her. Forced into the car, Recy, a Black woman, was repeatedly raped by six white men at gunpoint, then tossed roadside with a warning: Tell anyone about this, and you're dead. Recy ignored the threats and her tale soon galvanized activists throughout Alabama -- including a woman whose name would eventually become synonymous with the Civil Rights movement.

Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past...

Hey, Crimes of the Centuries listeners! COTC is now part of Grab Bag Collab, a Patreon-based podcasting network. You can find our other shows available at patreon.com/grabbagcollab

Alcoholism, multiple husbands and boarding houses. This is the story of The Landlady. 

Dive deep into the upbringing and backstories of individuals who committed history's most notorious crimes, shedding light on the psychological factors that shaped their paths. With a suspenseful twist, the identities of these individuals won’t be unveiled until the end of each episode. ‘The Catalyst’ will unravel the complex narratives behind these disturbing cases a...

When luggage leaking blood arrived at a Los Angeles train depot in 1931, the woman who'd traveled with the items feigned ignorance -- and then disappeared, leading to a nationwide manhunt that captivated the nation. Because one of the two victims found inside the Winnie Ruth Judd's trunks had been dismembered -- and because both she and the victims were beautiful women -- the case generated hundreds of headlines and a memorable moniker: The Trunk Murderess. But were prosecutors' theories about the Phoenix, Arizona, deaths really true? Or did Judd take the fall for a well-connected accomplice?

"Crimes of...

The morning of Aug. 1, 1966, 25-year-old Charles Whitman called his wife's boss to say she'd be out, then did the same for his mother. After killing the two women, he climbed atop the observatory tower at the University of Texas and relentlessly began picking off pedestrians below in an attack unlike any before witnessed in America.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

AND DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK - NOW AVAILABLE!  Order today at w...

Every parent has worried about their children hauling home tainted candy on Halloween, but not everyone knows where that fear originated. On Halloween in 1974, an 8-year-old boy named Timothy O’Bryan was granted one pick from his basket before bed — and soon after downing the contents of his Pixy Stix, he went limp in his father’s arms. The investigation threw parents into a panic, prompting tons of candy to be taken to sheriff’s offices for inspection. As horrifying as the case appeared to be at first, what police uncovered was far more sinister than anyone had imagined.

"Cri...

Notorious labor union leader Jimmy Hoffa had for decades been a polarizing figure, with his ties to organized crime investigated as early as 1957 by future U.S. Attorney General Bobby Kennedy. A jury tampering conviction eventually took him out of official power, but Hoffa worked tirelessly behind the scenes to reclaim his position -- until his disappearance in 1975. Despite countless theories about what happened to him, Hoffa's fate remains one of the most infamous unsolved mysteries in American history. 

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a...

Living in Occupied Paris during World War II was utter chaos, with the Gestapo police constantly changing rules, kidnapping people from the streets and sidelining the Parisian police. A physician named Marcel Petiot claimed to be among the brave men and women working for the Resistance — a group determined to help smuggle endangered people to safety, far from the reach of the Third Reich. But when neighbors reported a fire at a townhouse Petiot owned, police arrived to uncover a scene so horrific, it managed to bury news about the war in newspapers worldwide.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is...

Random offenses, Institutions and Orange Socks. This is the story of The Drifter. 
Dive deep into the upbringing and backstories of individuals who committed history's most notorious crimes, shedding light on the psychological factors that shaped their paths. With a suspenseful twist, the identities of these individuals won’t be unveiled until the end of each episode. ‘The Catalyst’ will unravel the complex narratives behind these disturbing cases and try to understand what triggered them.

For years, the violence that occurred in the area known as "Black Wall Street" in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1921 was remembered as the "Tulsa Race Riot" - when it was even remembered at all.  But that name, promoted by the media and government officials, was at best a misleading description of what we've now started to reveal over the past few decades as a massacre perpetrated on a thriving Black community that took generations to recover.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped c...

Handsome and charismatic, the actor Bob Crane led the cast of the hit sitcom "Hogan's Heroes" for six seasons from the mid-sixties into the beginning of the next decade.  The show ended in 1971, and Crane began traveling the country in a touring play.  When he was found dead in his hotel room in Arizona in 1978, was it due to a secret life that he kept hidden from public view? 

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

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Her story seemed innocent at first, if not charming.  A young immigrant woman from Germany befriending older gentlemen in Cincinnati's German community and providing them memories of home with her Old World cooking.  But as these men fell ill - or worse, starting dying - the motives behind Anna Marie Hahn's friendly overtures proved to be far more devious.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

AND DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK - NOW AV...

It's a story every American grade school student learns - how the actor John Wilkes Booth shot President Abraham Lincoln in his box at the Ford's Theater, jumped down to the stage, and fled Washington DC until he was killed by the authorities in a barn in rural Virginia.  But it's not widely known that Booth wasn't acting alone, and that President Lincoln was only one of several targets he and his conspirators planned to murder on the night of April 15, 1865.  In today's episode, we tell the story of the others involved and their plot to assassinate multiple members of Li...

After the murder of the Defeo family, the house known as "High Hopes" where the murders occurred was purchased by the George and Kathy Lutz.  But the Lutz family soon fled the property, claiming frightening paranormal activity.  Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren arrived and began studying the scene.  But did they find evidence of supernatural occurrences - or were they perpetrating a fraud on a too-credulous public?

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from the Obsessed Network exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

AND DON'T FORGET ABO...