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87 – Antwerp Diamond Heist and the Mapleton Murder on Brighton Line
51 Plays1 month ago
We are back.
Jeff tells the story of the 2003 Antwerp Diamond Heist, one of the largest and most sophisticated diamond robberies in history. Often called the “Heist of the Century,” the crime targeted the Antwerp Diamond Center in Belgium and exposed shocking security vulnerabilities in what was believed to be one of the most secure vaults in the world.
Sam shares the story of the Mapleton Murder on the Brighton Line, a chilling railway murder investigated by British authorities. The case would become one of the most disturbing crimes in railway history.
Mind the gap.
Visit us on Linktree for the collection of links, Instagram, or email us at jeffandsamshow@gmail.com.
Sources
Jeff’s Sources:
- Heist of the Century – Netflix Documentary
- Selby, S. A., & Campbell, G. (2010). Flawless: Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History. Union Square Press.
- https://www.beldiamond.com/blogs/news/why-is-antwerp-the-diamond-capital-of-the-world
- https://time.com/7308331/stolen-heist-of-the-century-netflix/
- https://www.wired.com/2009/03/ff-diamonds-2/
- https://luxurylondon.co.uk/culture/entertainment/netflix-stolen-heist-of-the-century-antwerp-2003-leonardo-notarbartolo/
Sam’s Sources:
- https://www.btp.police.uk/police-forces/british-transport-police/areas/about-us/about-us/our-history/crime-history/murder-of-issac-gold/
- Gordon, R. Michael. Murder Files from Scotland Yard and the Black Museum.
- https://www.cuckfieldconnections.org.uk/post/1881-the-physiognomy-of-a-murderer-there-s-no-art-to-find-the-mind-s-construction-in-the-face
- https://review.gale.com/2016/03/03/the-compartment-was-much-bespattered-with-blood-the-brighton-railway-murder/
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Transcript
Introduction and Catching Up
00:00:01
Speaker
hello sam ah geoff
00:00:25
Speaker
Welcome to the Sam and Jeff and Sam show. Come on. It wouldn't be us if we didn't do it right. Welcome to the Jeff and Sam show. You've been, you've been doing really well, actually. I gotta mess it up every once in a while. I know I wouldn't expect you to not mess it up. So let's take it from top. Okay. Okay. Okay.
00:00:42
Speaker
Three, two, one. Do it. Welcome to the Jeff and Sam show. I'm Jeff and I'm Sam and we're here and we're queer. and we're queer but most of all we're here we are it has been since the 13th of january that we have sat in these chairs in front of these microphones and we have had quite the month we have first tell everyone what you're drinking so that i can open oh yeah um poppy hey poppy raspberry rose
00:01:20
Speaker
I am drinking poppy ginger lime. All right.
00:01:25
Speaker
i mean, a hell of a month, Sam. That was incredible. what Yeah, ah ge just
Teaser: Upcoming Egypt Episode
00:01:32
Speaker
not. um I haven't processed at it So we're going to give you guys a show about our Egypt adventure, but that requires us to process what we've been through, right?
00:01:43
Speaker
Cheers, queers. Cheers, queers. um And we have not done that yet. Nope. So you'll get it one day soon, but not today. um yeah we'll do the full rundown. We'll talk about all the things, say all the stuff, but neither of us is in a place to...
00:02:03
Speaker
But was it incredible? Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Indescribable. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's the part we got to work on before we sit down on a microphone and describe it. I'm just, I want to take a bet right now though, and just see how many times one of us says like just a very vague thing about it. ah Like it was awesome. It was amazing. It was incredible. Indescribable. It's going to be countless.
00:02:29
Speaker
We just got to figure out the words to describe it because the only thing we have right now is how awesome it was and that we'll just have to do until it computes in our head. yeah What's new? What's going on?
00:02:45
Speaker
i don't even know if I can process that. um What's new? What's going on? Oh, I made a note. I can't remember what the note is about. So let's see what I wrote down to talk
00:02:56
Speaker
No, that's my grocery list.
00:02:59
Speaker
yeah I think I was drunk. It i
00:03:11
Speaker
it was when I sent you the thing on Instagram about Dolly Parton, i guess. Oh, I wasn't drunk. I hadn't slept. I couldn't sleep. So I got off work on Monday morning at three and then just was up all day. So I like was.
Dolly Parton's Songwriting Legacy
00:03:25
Speaker
Yeah. um But did you know that our girl Dolly, not only if for those of you who don't know, but that iconic song that people always associate with Whitney Houston, i Will Always Love You, is it was written by and performed first by Dolly Parton.
00:03:40
Speaker
on the night that she wrote that song, do you know that she wrote another one as well? Jolene. Jolene. On the same fucking night, she wrote both of those songs. hu here's what Here's what I know about I Will Always Love You. you know before you watched that video?
00:03:54
Speaker
Yeah, I've known that for a long time. But what i what else I know about that song is in the seventyties Elvis Presley wanted to do that song.
00:04:05
Speaker
And Dolly was like, oh, yeah, of course, Elvis, you can do this song. That's fine. But his agent, Colonel something Tom or something like that.
00:04:16
Speaker
said for Elvis to do the song, he has to buy the rights to the song. And Dolly said, sorry, hate it, can't do it. And she, like, made her sick. Yeah. And then in 1991, Whitney Houston sang the song.
00:04:30
Speaker
and For what? For The Bodyguard. Yeah. Amazing.
Whitney Houston and Super Bowl Performances
00:04:34
Speaker
What a great movie. And that song, I remember the radio 91, 92, that song was number one.
00:04:42
Speaker
For weeks and weeks and weeks. It is the... It's the number one most selling song of all time, still. Shit, it was incredible. It was incredible.
00:04:56
Speaker
And people always ask Dolly, do you ever get kind of offended that people give Whitney Houston credit for that song? pardon Of course they wouldn't. She said, ah I don't care who gets the credit long as I get the cash. And that's one of my favorite lines by Dolly. What an icon. Yeah, icon. Yeah.
00:05:16
Speaker
And then around the same time, Whitney Houston sang the Star Spangled Banner for the Super Bowl. She did, 93, I think. Which is one of the best performances of all time of the Star Spangled Banner yeah of all time. yeah It was incredible. And that one actually went on to be a single that she released, you know, yeah on cassette tape, which I owned it.
00:05:43
Speaker
Yeah, so that was a good one. Speaking of Super Bowl halftime shows and Super Bowls, Bad Bunny. I'm the biggest fan of his. Were you before this no the show? No. There you go. No, about a week before, i started like trying to understand what it was you know the hype about the hype about Bad Bunny. And he's just amazing. I mean, he's incredible. Positive. would never like He doesn't respond to that negativity coming his way.
00:06:10
Speaker
You know what I mean? I don't know what you mean because I know nothing about him People hate on him. Oh, why? Because people hate, including big people. Oh. And so his response to that is just to fill the show full of love. There you go.
00:06:27
Speaker
And it was phenomenal. Yeah. Yeah. phenomenal it was great yeah it was really really good i enjoyed it and then lady gaga was in it who knew and ricky martin was in it there you go but lady gaga we were i was watching it and swear to god we were looking at lady gaga and we were thinking who is she who is this like the person i was watching it with said it kind of looks like madonna And said well, it kind of looks like Lady Gaga. She was so glammed up.
00:06:59
Speaker
And then the person I was watching it with said, she's going to take that dress off in a minute and put on a steak. And I was like, yeah, it is Gaga. Side profile, that was all Lady Gaga. She did a good job, too.
00:07:11
Speaker
Well, so did... i mean, Charlie Puth did a great job singing the national anthem. Obviously, didn't watch any moment of this live because I could not give any fucks about any of that. But...
00:07:26
Speaker
I watched some videos after the fact, and Charlie Puth did the national anthem, and he did a good job. And then Brandy fucking Carlisle. can't believe he just skated right over that one. Didn't know she was there. Yeah. And then fucking Green Day. that Apparently they opened the show, right? They did. They opened the the game. Yeah.
00:07:50
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, Green Day. Just the people who made this schedule. So I don't know if you know anything about Green Day, but they are very vocal against some things that are happening in our world. And then Brandi Carlile, obviously, she's a lesbian
Book Recommendations
00:08:06
Speaker
icon. um I don't know what Charlie Puth's stans are, but I assume that he's...
00:08:12
Speaker
was put in this position for kind of the same type of reason to like show solidarity against the bad things that are happening in our world right now and so people that put on the super bowl they knew exactly what the fuck they were doing it's all about the money and it was a big fuck you it was a big fuck you and it was the highest the most watched super bowl performance In history, it has the highest ratings ever.
00:08:38
Speaker
And again, like the people that Green Day was speaking out ah speaking out against, those are the same people that attack Bad Bunny, right? And I love that his show focused on Puerto Rico.
00:08:51
Speaker
Like just the markets, the people selling fruits, you know what I mean? Just such a beautiful... culturally impactful show and it and it gave that like aspect of like this is home for people you know yeah it was beautiful a good show nice that's good what else what you watching what you reading oh i'm reading um a book called malice by is a the have i heard of this i don't know
00:09:27
Speaker
It's the first in a four book series by John Gwynn. um Super good. it's ah
00:09:35
Speaker
It's epic fantasy. so there's like giants and like gods and that kind of stuff and like powers at work. But it's like Celtic origins. So it's basically like...
00:09:50
Speaker
the you know it's just right up my alley so um we'll see ashley uh is the one that told me to read it and she said that uh his writing style is comparable to uh like george r martin and and like jr took the chair or the double r's are really getting me today I'm glad it's not just me. Yeah, no, I'm, ah yeah. Functioning is not highest right now, but it could be worse, and it has been worse.
00:10:22
Speaker
Well, I read The Ghost Rider. Oh, nice. Yeah. That's the one that, so-and-so told you to write read, right? Who? So much has happened in this last month. I don't know who tells me what or when or how. Somebody was telling us about it on the trip.
00:10:41
Speaker
Yeah, so I listened to it actually on an Audible and a really cool story. I mean, it's kind of like a mystery psychological thing. Like this woman is a ghostwriter for famous people, right? But she kind of gets canceled.
00:10:58
Speaker
because she is has the audacity to to speak out against a man, and that kind of forces her to be canceled. So she has to take this other job ghostwrite for another famous writer, which turns out to be her father, that she doesn't speak to anymore because of something that happened in 1975. So then her this becomes her finding out the truth about what happened back then.
00:11:27
Speaker
Really good. It was really interesting. i enjoyed it. Oh, good. Yeah. Where's your pie? Oh, my God. Tony on the spot. Yeah, you just... I'm sorry. i did not mean to put so much pressure. I wish that I could have just recorded. Your eyes just zigzagged like fucking nystagmus. You know what? got this. It is by Julie Clark. Okay. The ghost writer.
00:11:48
Speaker
it i like how we do the same things. were like We both put our hands out we're like... You did. You were just so quick. Shimmy. Shimmy. Yeah, that was a good book. Recommend it um Yeah, and i'm watching them I'm watching a show now. I started a show last night. It's an old show. It's called Bloodline.
00:12:07
Speaker
Oh, nice. Yeah, yeah. On Netflix. Have you seen it? I haven't, but it's on my to it's on my like likes list to watch or whatever. It kind of has that that vibe where like... you don't know what's happening. You think somebody is the bad guy and then maybe they're not the bad guy.
00:12:24
Speaker
And you know that there's an overarching story of something bad that will happen. Yeah. But you don't know like what the bad thing is that's going to happen.
00:12:37
Speaker
good It's good. It's intense. Cliffhanger. That's good. i am re-watching Redolian Isles because why not? Such a good show. It is. Love that one. I just love them. They picked such great characters for those roles.
00:12:50
Speaker
it just Who are the stars of that show? Angie Harmon and... I cannot think of that. Angie Harmon's good. She is indeed.
00:13:02
Speaker
um hold on.
00:13:04
Speaker
Sasha Alexander, I knew that. um Yeah. Yeah. Love it. Love them. There was just a line. I actually sent it to Kelsey, and I think you will find it funny, too.
00:13:17
Speaker
But just listen to this.
00:13:25
Speaker
feel amazing. So cupcakes, Red Bull, and martini. Don't be all fancy it. I'd take coffee and shot of whiskey any day. If that's not the most me thing. Coffee and a shot of whiskey any day. All right. You ready to do this thing? Ready. But I also want to say that I got a text message. And one of my...
00:13:45
Speaker
One of my, I just want to talk about Betty. Betty was a coworker of mine when I first started nursing. She was the old school kind of nurse.
00:13:58
Speaker
Yeah, so I got a text message this morning about Betty, and she was the old school kind of nurse that we love. Okay. class act and she passed away this morning, but she was a mentor of mine when I first started nursing and also of Ashley's.
Tribute to Mentor Betty
00:14:13
Speaker
And i have seen that woman in the funniest situations, you know, but she also taught me a lot. So this is just a little shout out to remember Betty, just to mark this space and time. so we need to do a cheers to Betty. To Betty for making her who you are as a nurse. Class act. She was one of those nurses that like she did not always do everything by the book.
00:14:40
Speaker
Well, do any of us? But she got the shit done and the doctors loved her. Just saw some of the funniest moments in nursing have involved her. You know what I mean? There you go. Truly one of the one of the greats.
00:14:55
Speaker
So that was for Betty. Okay, now we have a An Egyptian coin. Okay. So on one side, there is a circle of what looks like lotus flowers. In the center, there is pharaoh. Okay.
00:15:14
Speaker
I couldn't tell you which one right now. You can't really see the face. Oh. And then on the other side, it's just ah some words that I can't read and a one. What pharaoh do you think it is?
00:15:27
Speaker
I mean, it could be any number of them. Yeah.
00:15:31
Speaker
It's crazy. Do you want me just name a random name? A random one. Ramesses a second. Hey, he would put himself. Egotistical man. He was something. All right. All right. So you're the Pharaoh, obviously.
00:15:44
Speaker
And she threw the coin right at me. Here we go. We're back. We're back. The Jeff and Sam show. I have been doing so well for many a week, but we've had a month off. I got to learn how to say the name of the show again. You have to learn how to flip a coin and catch it again. Pharaoh.
00:16:01
Speaker
Oh, it's me? It's me? You're the problem. It's you. Okay. So I wanted to like not do anything too serious for the first show back because i think recently one of the shows i did was the tulsa race massacre and that was really deep i think that was one of the last ones i did and so i was like i can't my brain i need something The fact that you even remembered that you did that story. Oh, it stuck with me.
00:16:30
Speaker
I mean, it was like a hard one to do for a lot of reasons. So anyway, I was like, I want to do something fun, you know, something neat, something different. Neat. Neato.
00:16:41
Speaker
So it's February 15th. No, it's not. It's February
Antwerp Diamond Heist Overview
00:16:46
Speaker
10th. 2003. 2003. Oh, you motherfucker. And I'm taking you to Antwerp, Belgium. Have you ever thought about Antwerp before? I've heard about it plenty of times, but I've never really really thought about it.
00:16:57
Speaker
But we're going there. Okay. Right now. Antwerp is known as the diamond capital of the world. It's a charming port town. Antwerp is the diamond capital of What? Honey, let me tell you a story, okay? It is the diamond capital of the world.
00:17:17
Speaker
I would have never guessed that. It's also a port town. ah Okay. It's also a very fashionable town. Very fashionable town. Hey. And Antwerp is known for something else. It is the global center for the diamond industry.
00:17:33
Speaker
The global center for the diamond industry. Within three blocks of the city center in Antwerp's diamond district, where 80% of the world's diamonds pass through, Yeah, there are police cars everywhere. Surveillance cameras everywhere.
00:17:51
Speaker
The place is locked down. The Diamond District has their own police force called the Diamond Police. Oh, I want to one them! Same! god! I'm the Diamond Police. You are. I'm the Diamond Police. At the heart of Antwerp's Diamond District is the tallest building in the district.
00:18:07
Speaker
And this is ground zero for the diamond trade. In fact, it's not just like ground zero. It's actually two floors below the earth is where they keep all the diamonds. 80% of diamonds go through this place, through this building, through. Mm-hmm.
00:18:24
Speaker
The vault containing the diamonds is said to be impenetrable. The vault has 10 separate layers of security. I mean, just the door to the vault alone weighs three tons, and it's almost 12 inches thick.
00:18:39
Speaker
That's a big-ass door. The lock to the door was a combination lock that requires four numbers, but it also has 100 million possible combinations. Wow. The key was or is one foot long and cut with so many grooves that it's said to be impossible to replicate.
00:18:58
Speaker
And then there is a magnet filled around the door. If the magnet filled is broken, then all these alarms are going go off, right?
00:19:11
Speaker
And just think about it like this. So on the door where the door bends open, there's like a book. Think of it as a book, the hardcover of a book. okay One cover, the back cover is on the wall.
00:19:23
Speaker
The front cover is on the door. So if you open it and the book bends, that breaks the magnet. build Okay. Okay. I was trying to picture like some invisible force field. Nope. And if that magnet comes apart, the alarm is going to scream. Okay. Okay. But there's also um sensors and seismic detectors to detect drilling.
00:19:45
Speaker
There is also infrared detectors looking for heat and motion sensors, checking for motion. And it even has a light detector. And if somebody got inside, that doesn't mean you could take anything you wanted, because all the stuff in the vault is in 160 different safe deposit boxes.
00:20:03
Speaker
Everyone knew the legend in Antwerp about how safe this place was. I feel as though you're about to tell me it's not. Only a fool would try to break into the vault and steal things.
00:20:14
Speaker
Or so they thought. That is until five Italian men decided that they would do it.
Planning the Heist
00:20:20
Speaker
Because every fortress has a weakness. The leader was Leonardo Nodobartolo, and the other cast of characters include Speedy, the Monster, the Genius, and the King of Keys.
00:20:35
Speaker
And they had a plan. And this is the story of the Antwerp Diamond Heist. Oh my god. Also known as the heist of the century. Okay? Okay.
00:20:46
Speaker
So my sources, Netflix, Heist of the Century, and it's based on a book called Flawless Inside the Largest Diamond Heist in History. Belldiamond.com and time.com and wired.com. Those are the sources that i used.
00:21:01
Speaker
Also luxurylondon.co.uk.
00:21:05
Speaker
So Antwerp has been known as the diamond capital of the world for several centuries, a title which hasn't been easily earned. The diamond trade in the ports started nearly 500 years ago when the first rough stones were brought over from India.
00:21:21
Speaker
Gradually, local diamond traders rose to prominence with their attention to detail and exuberant selection until even the King of France, Francois I, started ordering his diamonds from the master cutters in Antwerp rather than Paris.
00:21:36
Speaker
In 2001, about two years before the heist, Leonardo, the Italian man, the ringleader, rented an office in the Diamond District. He posed as a diamond dealer.
00:21:49
Speaker
He was, is charming, good looking, but he was also kind of just another pretty face in the Diamond District. fucking italian Absolutely. This man, he has it too.
00:22:01
Speaker
um He wasn't actually a diamond dealer. This was just part of his plan to surveil the district for the next two years. like that's he's That's what's the word? He's um dedicated. Yep.
00:22:14
Speaker
He became a familiar face to the people there and he had access to the vault. Leonardo had been a thief since birth. The thing that made Leonardo dangerous was his charisma and his charming smile.
00:22:28
Speaker
He could make you laugh, and he could make you lower your guard. Because he rented an office in the Diamond District, Leonardo was entitled to access to the vault, and he was allowed to rent his own safe deposit box.
00:22:41
Speaker
So Leonardo would come and go as he pleased, and he would also carry a leather bag with him into the vault that had a little pinhole in it with a camera. Nice. How did they not catch that?
00:22:53
Speaker
There are so many things. On each visit, Leonardo would record parts of the vault, and he was like building a map of the vault. Leonardo decided that he needed to widen his circle to pull this heist off, so he called La Scuola di Torino, the School of Turin.
00:23:12
Speaker
He was planning on doing this by himself initially? Okay. No. He just, I think his plan all along was to call the School of Turin, which they have everything you need, everybody you need. It's an informal group of Italian thieves. Mm-hmm.
00:23:28
Speaker
He got Speedy, known as Pierre Tavano. Speedy was anxious. He was super anxious. Cracked out little chihuahua. Anxious man, yep. And he got the monster, also known as Fernando Fanodo.
00:23:42
Speaker
He was the muscle man, expert lock picker. The genius, also known as Elio Donorio, who knew his way around the alarm systems. And lastly, the king of keys, described as an older man, but still to this day it is unidentified.
00:23:58
Speaker
Leonardo knew that each of these men had a specialty and that the potential prize could be as much as $100 million. dollars No big deal. Diamonds and jewelry. For the next two years, they studied and they rehearsed.
00:24:12
Speaker
And they even built a replica of the vault itself so that they would know exactly where to step. I'm having real, like, Ocean's Eleven. Oh, yeah.
00:24:23
Speaker
Yeah. and yeah Italian job vibes. Yeah. And now the time was here. It's Friday, February 15th, 2003. That's a Saturday night. There were three reasons that they chose this date. The first reason was that it was the Sabbath.
00:24:37
Speaker
A lot of the diamond dealers in town were Jewish, and they would not be in the office on the Sabbath. Second, there was a major tournis tenement or tennis tournament, sports. did you That's what you said, i think.
00:24:50
Speaker
I don't know. I thought I said Ternus Tenement. Who knows? Second, there was a major tennis tournament in the city, so a lot of the security would be kind of pulled for the tournament, right?
00:25:01
Speaker
Three, the third reason, the vault stayed sealed from Friday evening to Monday morning, so this would give the thieves enough time to do exactly what they needed to do. In case things went awry, they had all day Sunday to also...
00:25:13
Speaker
Two days before the heist, Leonardo did one more final thing before they did this
Executing the Heist
00:25:19
Speaker
in preparation. He sprayed the vault's heat sensor with a thin layer of hairspray.
00:25:24
Speaker
Like it looked like he was fixing his hair. So while he was doing that, he sprayed the heat sensor with that hairspray. This would blind the sensor just enough to make sure that his team could finish the job undetected. Hmm.
00:25:37
Speaker
On the evening of the heist, the crew gathered at Leonardo's apartment. They had, what do you think a bunch of Italian people would have for dinner before they did something like this? Pasta. Boom. They had pasta, salami, and of course they had vino. They had to have their wine.
00:25:54
Speaker
ah Just a few hours before the heist, he parked his rented car a block away from the Diamond Center. Now, he stayed in the car, right? And this was on purpose. Because he was recognizable. He was recognizable and he knew the cops.
00:26:09
Speaker
So if he saw anybody that he recognized, he would inform the other people. Okay. So he stayed in the car. 2003. Okay. The rest of the team headed out to their duffel bags and with their duffel bags in hand. The genius led them to a rundown office building next door to the garden of the center, the Diamond Center.
00:26:28
Speaker
The genius pulled out a ladder that he had. he but He had hidden it there three days earlier. i thought he pulled it out of his bag. I was like, what the fuck? And then he climbed to the balcony. On the balcony, the infrared shield awaited them.
00:26:41
Speaker
He neutralized it with a homemade polyester shield. The team climbed up after him and slipped through the window. In the antechamber of the vault, they covered the security cameras with black plastic bags.
00:26:53
Speaker
Now for the real test. The magnetic field sensors on the vault door would normally trigger if the doors opened, but the genius had a plan. He used a homemade aluminum slab with double-sided tape.
00:27:08
Speaker
He lifted the sensors off the door without actually breaking the magnetic field. Then he taped his aluminum slab to the wall, and the system thought the door was still sealed.
00:27:19
Speaker
Next was the code to the door. The hidden camera that Leonardo had placed beforehand had recorded a guard entering the combination. The genius entered that combination.
00:27:30
Speaker
like god The tumbler clicked. Next, the key. The king of keys had crafted an identical key based on the video footage.
00:27:41
Speaker
He tried to use it, but it didn't work. But Leonardo was listening. So Leonardo remembered that the guards left the actual footlong key in a utility closet nearby. What?!
00:27:52
Speaker
The monster forced his way into that closet, and voila, there was the real key. Shut the fuck up. They just left the key in a utility? No. I mean, there's 10 other things that are going to prevent you from even... That is arrogance. That is amazing.
00:28:10
Speaker
Once inside... they deserve to be robbed. With the key in hand, the door swung open. Did the angels come down from the heavens and the lights illuminated? Take everything, please. Oh.
00:28:22
Speaker
Once inside, the monster carefully covered covered the light sensors with tape and the heat motion detectors with styrofoam boxes. Every single move was methodical and deliberate.
00:28:34
Speaker
After all, just one tiny mistake and it would all be over. I wonder if if like they triggered a sensor once they were in the vault, if the door would close shut and they would be trapped in there like rats. Right?
00:28:46
Speaker
if If that were the case, they had a plan for it. Oh, probably. The alarms would go off, but they practiced this for two weeks. and like I said, they had their own replica and it was identical. So they knew all the blind spots and exactly where to move.
00:28:58
Speaker
And just like that, they were in. and the men pulled out a handmade device called a hand crank drill. And one by one, they popped the locks of each of the safe deposit box.
00:29:09
Speaker
He uses to do burr holes. Right? they so I said that like i know. You do. They stuffed... They stuffed their bags and with gold and diamonds and jewelry.
00:29:21
Speaker
By 5.30 a.m., they were done. They had opened 109 of the 160 safe deposit boxes. Why didn't they do the rest? Time to go. Oh, come on. Time to go. of bitches.
00:29:33
Speaker
ah They wiped the surfaces clean. They retracted their steps, or retraced their steps, scooped up their gear, and even broke into the security office to steal the surveillance tapes after the fact.
00:29:44
Speaker
Why was the security office unattended? They were at the tennis tournament. I don't know, but it was. As they got outside, the sun was rising. They tossed the bags into Leonardo's car and they drove back to his apartment.
00:29:59
Speaker
They had a little celebration and a big mic drop.
Post-Heist Investigation
00:30:02
Speaker
They pulled off the impossible. I'm sort of like rooting for these people. You know what I mean? It's like the other bank heist, the Argentinian one. Yes. Yes.
00:30:12
Speaker
They went to the rooftop for just a little while to see if they could hear any like sirens or alerts police alerts, yeah anything in the city that was happening and there was nothing happening. It was peace Because they don't want to tell anybody about this.
00:30:24
Speaker
But, and this is according to Leonardo, when they opened the black bag of the De Beers shipment, those bags were empty. the De Beers de be' is a big diamond company, one of the biggest in the world. i'm so unclassy.
00:30:38
Speaker
So according to Leonardo, instead of $100 million dollars in stolen diamonds and gold, they had about $20 million dollars in stole stolen diamonds and gold. But that's according to Leonardo. Ugh.
00:30:50
Speaker
It's thought that someone played Leonardo. They were on to the fact that he was going to carry out the heist and they took their own diamonds so that when the things were stolen, they were going to file a claim saying that their diamonds were stolen.
00:31:04
Speaker
Bunch of thieves. Bunch of thieves. It's not just the band of thieves. Like, bunch of people. these All these diamond companies are also swindlers. The group felt let down, but they still had $20 million, dollars right? I mean, that's a really big difference, though.
00:31:21
Speaker
Hold on. Leonardo and Speedy were going to take the trash, the things like the gloves, the videotapes, the scraps of paper and the food. they were going to the food that they were eating, anything like that that could tie them to the heist as far away from the city as they could. And they were going to burn the evidence in a field.
00:31:36
Speaker
This is where anxious Speedy began to unravel. He's the anxious one, remember? Speedy demanded that they dump the evidence immediately. It was all too much for him. Like, he did all of this, and suddenly now it's too much. Sedate that motherfucker. I'm freaking out, man. He's freaking out. down.
00:31:57
Speaker
Come on, Speedy. Don't do this now. Just hold it together. Keep it together. Keep it together. Leonardo pulled off the road, and onto he pulled into a wooden area, or a wooded area, and he was looking for a good spot to burn the evidence.
00:32:09
Speaker
Speedy... lost his shit, and began ripping open the bags and throwing the trash everywhere. Fuck off! In the trash, there was money, videotapes, and tiny little diamonds that were now tossed into the mud.
00:32:23
Speaker
Leonardo was out looking for the right spot, and when he returned, he saw this playing out with Speedy. Running out of time, they scattered the rest of the trash, and they fled on that cold Saturday morning.
00:32:34
Speaker
God damn it, Speedy. Meanwhile, on Monday morning back at the Diamond Center, the security guard unlocks the vault just like any other day. And this time, the site inside was a mess. Everything was scattered inside the vault.
00:32:47
Speaker
They see the safe deposit boxes pried open, and basically it looked like a tornado had ripped through the inside of the vault. And the tapes were gone. And not one alarm had been triggered.
00:32:59
Speaker
Detective Pays and Detective DeBruycker led the Diamond Squad, the world's only specialized Diamond police. Their beat included the Antwerp du Diamond District, and Detective Pays and DeBruycker were the Diamond Squad's first hires.
00:33:17
Speaker
They were standing in the and the ball vault in disbelief. DeBrucker called the headquarters asking for a nationwide alert. The Antwerp Diamond Center had been brazenly robbed.
00:33:28
Speaker
And then he dialed SecurLink, and that's the vault's alarm company. And he said, what's the status of the alarm? Fully functional, the operator said, checking the signals coming from the Diamond Center.
00:33:40
Speaker
The vault is secure. He said, Then how is it that the door is wide open and I'm standing inside of the vault? He hung up and he looked at Detective Pays and he knew that they were again they were up against a rare breed of criminal.
00:33:56
Speaker
At first, security started turning on each other because they all assumed it was one of their own. Yeah, because it's got to be an inside job. I mean. But then there was a phone call that changed everything. Oh, god damn it. About 20 miles outside of Brussels, a retired man named August Van Camp called the police.
00:34:12
Speaker
Everybody knows August Van Camp. He always has the same problem. He owns a lot of land and people always litter on his land. He always calls the cops for the same thing every single time. And the cops, they know him because he calls so much.
00:34:27
Speaker
Usually teenagers, it's it's like teenagers dumping rubbish on his property. yeah Van Camp said this time was a little different. There were shredded documents and diamond center envelopes and videotapes, among other things.
00:34:41
Speaker
The cops rushed over to Van Camp's property. They found diamond chips, scattered, half-eaten food, including a salami sandwich. Fucking DNA, motherfucker! And business card belonging to Leonardo.
00:34:56
Speaker
ah This was goldmine. One piece of evidence led to another piece of evidence. The sandwich was sent for DNA testing. There was even a receipt for the salami sandwich, which led to a local deli.
00:35:08
Speaker
Checking the timestamps and the security footage that led the police to a broad-shouldered man named Fernando Fanodo, also known as the Monster. The police dig a little deeper into Leonardo.
00:35:19
Speaker
They found out he hadn't actually been doing any business. He was just paying rent to presumably have access to the vault. And his own safe deposit box was untouched.
00:35:33
Speaker
They should have like opened his too, you know what I mean? But his was untouched. But they also didn't expect Speedy to be a fucking crackhead and ruin their plans. They know speedy we all Speedy. We all have a Speedy in our life.
00:35:47
Speaker
By this time, the Gang of five they're back in Italy. And Italy doesn't have an extradition treaty with Belgium. Because they're like, we're not stitches. Okay? We're not snitches. Or stitches. Or stitches. And we ain't telling you shit. We're not giving our people to you. So as long as Leonardo is in Italy, he is untouchable.
00:36:04
Speaker
But Leonardo decides he needs to go back to Belgium to finish up some business. no he doesn't. He didn't know that the cops had him figured out, so he is now back in Antwerp. The Diamond Center staff spots him, and they stall until the cops get there.
00:36:19
Speaker
Back in Italy, his apartment gets raided. They find some diamonds and some unregistered SIM cards that he had used to contact the gang. One of the diamonds actually has the serial number matching the loot from the vault.
00:36:32
Speaker
Leonardo's in custody, and everything falls apart. The monster was traced through the receipt. The genius is... found by DNA on the tape inside the vault. Speedy has traced to his own phone records, but the King of Kings or the King of Keys has never been identified. good Tavano, Donorio, and Fanotto each got five years in prison while Leonardo was sentenced to 10 years in Antwerp in 2005 for orchestrating the heist.
Heist Outcomes and Speculation
00:37:02
Speaker
He was released in 2009 on parole with the condition stating that he must compensate the victims of the heist, which he never did. So he was rearrested at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris in 2013 and made to serve the rest of his sentence, eventually being released in 2017.
00:37:19
Speaker
twenty seventeen Once the trial wrapped up, the newspapers were calling it the heist of the century. Remember that out of the $100 million in diamonds and jewelry missing from the vault, the school of Turin ended up allegedly with just $20 million of it.
00:37:37
Speaker
Apart from the small stuff they found in Leonardo's apartment, none of the other stuff, the stolen stuff, was ever found. Somebody hit the jackpot. To this day, we have no idea what happened to the stolen diamonds and jewelry.
00:37:53
Speaker
Personally, i believe, after watching the show and reading the stuff, yeah the Gang of Five yeah did what they had to do to get it in the end. Yeah, 100%. Long game. Yeah.
00:38:07
Speaker
They did their time, and they came back to it after their time was over. Do you think $20 million dollars or $100 million dollars is worth that time in a Belgian prison? Yeah.
00:38:18
Speaker
Absolutely. Many of the authorities believe that the thieves did smuggle the loot back to Italy. Also, many of the authorities do believe that Leonardo and the men have the entire $100 million dollars worth of jewels. There's really no way of knowing.
00:38:33
Speaker
For Belgium, the case was a national embarrassment. The most secure vault in the world was breached with duct tape, aluminum, and hairspray. Starry foam. As far as we know, all of the men are out living quiet lives now.
00:38:47
Speaker
Leonardo is thought to live in the countryside outside of Turin with his wife, running a wood pellet business. In his brand new McMansion out there. Right. um As a key interviewee throughout the Netflix documentary, he seems to have no remorse.
00:39:04
Speaker
He said, quote, I've always wanted to be a part of something like this. We felt proud for doing something so strong and powerful. Experts believe the stones were likely broken up, recut, and mixed with legitimate stock, making them impossible to identify or trace back to the robbery.
00:39:21
Speaker
It's highly probable that the majority of the diamonds stolen during the 2003 Antwerp diamond heist were recirculated back through the diamond industry, potentially potentially including Antwerp, although they have never been officially recovered.
00:39:35
Speaker
Regardless of which theory is correct about the stolen jewels, there's a common agreement that the band of thieves got away with millions, and that is the story of the Antwerp diamond heist, also known as the heist of the century.
00:39:50
Speaker
fucking speedy speedy man he fell apart don't fall apart speedy keep your shit together i mean jesus christ
00:40:01
Speaker
anxious one so yeah fun story that was good that was really good and yeah they're 100 absolutely they got the money they're in turin yeah living their best lives They're doing't great. Yeah.
00:40:17
Speaker
wonder who the king of keys is. He never got caught. Just an old man living comfortably somewhere.
00:40:26
Speaker
I'm gonna take a left turn as our usual. When we were in Colorado at the crime convention, I bought a book. I picked that book up couple days ago looking for inspiration.
Murder on the Brighton Line Introduction
00:40:41
Speaker
And ah took the book over to Kayla and I said, put your finger down, point to story I should do. And she did. So this is that story. Okay. This is a quote.
00:40:55
Speaker
He is very round shouldered and his thin overcoat hangs in awkward folds about his spare figure. His forehead and chin are both receding. He has a slight mustache and very small dark whiskers.
00:41:09
Speaker
His jaw bones are prominent, his cheeks sunken and sallow, and his teeth are fully exposed when laughing. His upper lip is thin and drawn inwards.
00:41:20
Speaker
His eyes gray and large. His gait is singular. He is inclined to slouch, and when not carrying a bag, his left hand is usually in his pocket. He generally carries a crutch stick.
00:41:33
Speaker
a On July 1st, 1881, this description was published in the Daily Telegraph newspaper of London. Found alongside a line drawing depicting the profile of a male.
00:41:45
Speaker
And they did him dirty. This was posted throughout the local pubs and coffee houses across London. It was the first time in history that a wanted man and his description and a drawing were put into the daily papers to help facilitate his capture.
00:42:03
Speaker
A rival newspaper reported, quote, the Daily Telegraph has made history by publishing the picture of a man wanted for murder today. That same man is also the first to ever appear on a Scotland Yard wanted poster.
00:42:20
Speaker
On the 27th of June, Mr. Isaac Frederick Gold sat alone in the carriage of the express train for his normal afternoon trip. He was a wealthy retired tradesman who still had business dealings in London.
00:42:33
Speaker
Every Monday morning, he would take the train from his home into the city and retrieve his weekly earnings from the business. It came out to about 50 pounds, which in today's world is actually 3,000 pounds.
00:42:46
Speaker
After depositing his earnings at the bank, he would climb into his first-class carriage and make the trip back to london from London Bridge back to near his home in Brighton. On this summer day, as the train departed, another man made his way into the carriage occupied by by Mr. Golt.
00:43:04
Speaker
He was a kind of sickly looking young man.
00:43:08
Speaker
As the train rumbled into Preston Park Station after the tunnel, the ticket collector, Richard Gibson, watched as a young man clamored, less than gracefully, out of the first class carriage.
00:43:20
Speaker
He was disheveled, hatless, lacking a tie and collar, which is very scandalous for the time, slightly confused and covered in blood. He slumped to the ground as Gibson got to his side.
00:43:33
Speaker
He regaled a story of having been attacked by two men in his carriage and knocked unconscious, so he couldn't recall much from the assault. Gibson later recalled that no other passengers exited the carriage that this man had been in.
00:43:46
Speaker
He also remembered pointing out a thin gold chain that was hanging out of the man's boot, and the man said, ah well, yeah, no, I put it there for safekeeping, but he was behaving kind of odd about it.
00:43:57
Speaker
So something about his presentation and the story didn't sit right with Gibson, so he took the man to the station master, Henry Anscombe. Anscombe notified the railway police of the reported attack so that they could, you know, alert people, keep them safe, and start to investigate and look for these two men who just savagely attacked this person.
00:44:17
Speaker
While with Anscombe, the young man claimed that he had been shot, but there was no evidence of this. The police at the station determined that the young man was and unstable and he was kind of still not making great sense, you know. So they believed that he had attempted to commit suicide.
00:44:40
Speaker
Why they jumped to that conclusion, I'm not really sure. But apparently at this time, suicide, or maybe just attempting suicide, I don't quite know which one would actually make sense here, was actually a criminal offense. So he was taken to the police station for a more in-depth interview.
00:44:57
Speaker
He went willingly, didn't fight, didn't try to escape, didn't object at all, because he was confident in the story that he had shared. The man was identified as Percy Lafroy Mapleton.
00:45:09
Speaker
He was a 22-year-old journalist and the godson to Sir John Lafroy, who was the governor of of Tasmania. Yeah. He recounted his tale again to the police, and as time wore on, he became more lucid.
00:45:23
Speaker
He leaned into his tale, like, big time. He filed an official complaint and even offered a reward for the capture of his attackers. The police weren't falling for it.
00:45:36
Speaker
Mapleton's story just wasn't adding up. His belongings and clothing were searched. They said it was to find any evidence of the attackers. But they found some odd gold coins in his pockets.
00:45:49
Speaker
For some reason, he was like, oh, i had no idea that those were in there. hu right During the time he was being interviewed and evaluated, the train was being searched and processed by the police.
00:46:01
Speaker
The carriage was covered in blood. But there was no sign of these attackers or even a body or a victim or anything. But there was carnage.
00:46:12
Speaker
After his interview, he was taken to the hospital to be evaluated and treated for his physical injuries. The doctor at the hospital informed police that the injuries present on Mapleton were all entirely superficial and did not account for the amount of blood present on him.
00:46:26
Speaker
The doctor was also suspicious of him and suggested that Mapleton be held. But the victim, because he's still technically a victim at this point, claimed that, whoops, I forgot, I have this very important engagement back in London.
00:46:41
Speaker
The police escorted him to purchase a new collar and tie because, again, you can't show up to an event with without a collar and tie. Detective Sergeant George Holmes was assigned to take Mapleton back to his home in Surrey. At this point, he had gone from victim to suicidal nutcase to maybe a person of interest.
00:47:01
Speaker
While Mapleton made his trek back to London with his personal escort, the police organized a search of the tracks to see if there was any type of evidence to be collected.
Suspect and Investigation
00:47:10
Speaker
They very quickly found a body in the tunnel that had clearly been thrown from the train.
00:47:15
Speaker
The body appeared to have wounds consistent with gunshots and a stab wound to the neck. There was also, conveniently, a bloody knife right next to the body. Back on the train, officers conducted a more thorough search of the carriage where they found bullet holes and clear signs of a struggle.
00:47:31
Speaker
In addition to the blood smears around the handles and windows, there were large pools of blood across the floor mats, a handkerchief, and a newspaper. They also found a few gold coins that appeared to be very similar to those found on Mapleton's person.
00:47:45
Speaker
At this time, he officially became a suspect. e The telegram speeds across the wire, finally making it to Detective Holmes that they had discovered this body, and he was told to detain Mapleton.
00:48:00
Speaker
Unfortunately, because he was not a suspect at this time, the notice was received while Holmes was outside the Surrey address, and Mapleton was inside cleaning up and, quote, changing his clothing.
00:48:11
Speaker
He slipped out the back door, and the prime suspect in a shockingly brutal murder was just gone. A nationwide manhunt began, but it wasn't yielding much.
00:48:22
Speaker
So in an odd move, C.E. Howard Vincent, the director of the criminal investigation department at the yard, made the bold decision to approach the British press about helping reach the public and involve them in the search.
00:48:38
Speaker
Much to the surprise of the police, who historically had not been well liked or received by the press, the newspapers happily agreed. The editors at the Daily Telegraph went above and beyond what they were requested to do. The police had simply asked for a few lines that described their suspect, but this was when they made history.
00:48:57
Speaker
Substantial rewards were offered and advertised, I guess, for any information about Mapleton's whereabouts. and In addition to the requested description and the added drawing, they ended up following the manhunt, the inquest, and the trial very closely.
00:49:13
Speaker
The inquest that began on June 29th, 1881 occurred over a few days after Mapleton's escape. Coroner Wynn Edwin bet Baxter performed the autopsy. The inquest jury easily returned the obvious verdict of willful wilful murder, guilty. The police officers, like detention Detective Sergeant Holmes, initially involved in the beginning phases of the report and the investigation were dragged through the mud by the public and the press. They were deemed inefficient and ineffective for how they handled the early stages and that they were blamed for Mapleton's escape.
00:49:47
Speaker
Again, regardless of the fact that he was initially a victim and then not a suspect until after he had already escaped. Their decision to involve the press seemed to be backfiring on them.
00:50:00
Speaker
After the verdict was released, the owners of the train company offered an additional significant reward for any information on or the capture of Mapleton. The newspapers published it and the public ate it up.
00:50:11
Speaker
Sales skyrocketed and the entire country was now involved and engaged in the case. And they got frequent updates from the press. Days after his miraculous escape, on the 8th of July, Percy LaFroy Mapleton was found under the alias of Percy Park, staying at a house in Stepney.
00:50:30
Speaker
Since his arrival at the lodgings, he had always kept to himself, kept the shades drawn, and only left the house at night. He was trying his best to stay hidden because he knew that they knew. So how did they find him?
00:50:43
Speaker
One might assume that he was caught because of the grueling work of the dedicated police officers or maybe the astounding efforts of the public and the press. But no.
00:50:55
Speaker
As with many of our brilliant criminals that we have discussed on this show, Mapleton did a thing. Damn. And it was just fucking dumb. Like, just dumb.
00:51:07
Speaker
Turns out that after getting settled at his new lodgings under his false name, he sent a telegraph to his former employer requesting that his wages get forwarded to his new address. Oh, Jesus.
00:51:20
Speaker
Come on. Officers from Scotland Yard arrived promptly after they were notified of their request and address. The officer in charge of the arrest was none other than Detective Inspector Donald Swanson.
00:51:33
Speaker
Do you know that name? do you know that name? I don't know. can't. Because seven years after this, he became very famous for his involvement in the Jack the Ripper case. Ah, yeah, yeah. Okay.
00:51:43
Speaker
Okay. Upon his arrest, Percy Mapleton was calm and collected and spoke very little. But in the reports later, an officer did have a note that he had said, quote, I am not obliged to say anything, and I think it better not to make any answer.
00:52:02
Speaker
I qualify that by saying I am not guilty.
00:52:05
Speaker
Arrogant. And dumb. And dumb. Just... um Let me send this telegraph. No one will know. Hey, my paycheck. Can you send it to this? Hey, this is Percy LaFroy Mapleton. I know that I'm nationwide wanted and my picture's out there, but. My paycheck. Can you send it to. I'm in needed funds. Yes.
00:52:27
Speaker
Yeah. so July 15th, 1881 brought about the committal trial.
Trial and Public Reaction
00:52:32
Speaker
Lord Chief Justice Coleridge and the jury were not impressed when Mapleton arrived to his trial in full evening attire. Just looking super dapper.
00:52:42
Speaker
He was still somehow cocky and vain, even in the face of the charges. Evidence was presented that proved without any doubt that he was very much guilty of the violent murder.
00:52:53
Speaker
As it turns out, Mapleton was low on funds and desperately needed quick money. he had traveled to the train station intending, and this is... Like he told them, he he had intended to intimidate and rob a lady traveling alone.
00:53:07
Speaker
Real classy. like When he couldn't find one, he decided decided that an old man traveling by himself is an next best option, right? Because with his impressive overconfidence, he expected very little resistance and believed that with his gun and knife, there would be no problem.
00:53:25
Speaker
He was sorely mistaken, and Mr. Isaac Gold put up a hell of a fight before he was killed. In the end, Mapleton stole his watch, which was the gold chain in his shoe, and a large sum of money from him.
00:53:38
Speaker
The press and newspapers covered the whole trial. One of the special correspondents from the Daily Telegraph reported that Mapleton could not have appeared more indifferent to the trial occurring around him and the evidence being presented against him.
00:53:51
Speaker
The reporter wrote, quote, there he sat a direct contradiction of every phrenologist and physiognogamist in the world i can safely say i have seldom seen a more thoughtful harmless face with a broad and deep benevol benevolent forehead quiet meditative eyes a cranium that showed none of those supposed characteristics of a murder a pallid countenance that might have been merely sicklied over the pale cast of thought And that kind of and indecisive mouth, which which those who are always open to convincing argument are popularly supposed to possess.
00:54:31
Speaker
Mind you, this same guy, because remember, he had a very receding chin, okay? ah So one of the things that this guy wrote in his...
00:54:43
Speaker
account of the story, I guess, was all about how like Darwin expected. horse shit. chi Like chins receding was a sign of intelligence and evolution and like all this kind of stuff. And it just, it made me giggle. It's harsh. And I don't know where I put that, but apparently having a receding chin or no chin means you smart.
00:55:09
Speaker
But on a side note, the terms phrenology and physio physiognomist, do you know those? Okay. So I had to look them up. So phrenology is the debunked 19th century pseudoscience that involves a practitioner touching a person's head to map out psychological attributes.
00:55:30
Speaker
It arises from the ideas of Franz Joseph Gull, who believed the brain was composed of distinct organs that would grow larger with use and create notable bumps on that specific area.
00:55:42
Speaker
Dear God. Can we just start doing that to people? Can I touch your forehead? Reportedly, individual's character, personality traits, and mental faculties could be determined based on the size, shape, and bumps present.
00:55:59
Speaker
In the early- That's a pseudoscience? What? Imagine someone coming up to you just rubbing your fucking head. So in the early to mid-1800s, the practice was frequently used to determine like marriage suitability, employment capability, and to assess character. That's insane.
00:56:16
Speaker
Oh, I'm sorry. You didn't get the job. You have too many bumps on your head. Sorry. Bumpy. Your bumps aren't in the right spot. today. And then physiognomist is another 19th century practice that involved an individual skilled in judging the temper, character, and personality of another based solely on facial structure and features. So less crazy because, you know, you can read someone Based on that, but still, maybe not the form, the shape of their faces.
00:56:47
Speaker
Yeah. got an odd-shaped forehead. I think we can trust him. The jury took a grand total of 10 minutes to deliberate before finding him guilty of the murder of Isaac Gold on the Brighton line.
00:56:59
Speaker
Prior to his execution, Mapleton made a full confession to a priest. During the outpouring, in his last moments, he also randomly confessed to the unsolved murder of Lieutenant Percy Roper of the Royal Engineers. Earlier in 1881, Roper had been killed in his quarters at the Brompton Barracks.
00:57:16
Speaker
Unfortunately, um Mapleton did recant that confession, so the rope so the Roper case went back into being unsolved. But I think he did it. I don't know why it would recant it, but like why would he bring it up if he didn't do it? Before his execution. Yeah, right? Yeah.
00:57:31
Speaker
So on November 29th, 1881, Percy LaFroy Mapleton calmly walked to the gallows, looking a little bit worse for wear, but still fucking cocky.
Execution and Legal Impact
00:57:43
Speaker
Executioner William Marwood at Lewis was praised for quote, a clean kill when Mapleton took his short drop and sudden stop.
00:57:53
Speaker
That's what they say in Pirates of the Caribbean. He remained swinging for the prescribed required period of time before being pulled down and having his body plopped in a hole on the prison grounds.
00:58:03
Speaker
Moving forward after this case, Scotland Yard maintained a much improved relationship with the press. Both parties benefited greatly from continuing to involve the press in active cases that were under investigation in Scotland Yard. And the press sold much better with stories of the investigations and Scotland Yard got to capitalize on the ability of the press to spread the word on criminal activity.
00:58:25
Speaker
This is proof that true crime was a thing. In eighteen eighty Yes. True crime. all they Sold newspapers. It did. Yeah. yeah So that's that's the story of the murder on the Brighton line. That's good. That was good. Right? He didn't have a suit and tie on.
00:58:43
Speaker
Top hat. do you think they wore top hats? Probably. But you should look at the... but Actually, let me just show you the picture of this dude. Because, I mean... The line drawing when I first saw it, it was the first thing I saw for a while and I was like, Oh God, like no way that fucking guy looked like that. He did. He did. Because there's a photo of him. Like an actual photo. So this is the line drawing.
00:59:06
Speaker
ha Like, come on. Scream serial killer. But when, but look at, you see his bowler head. Yeah. But his actual photo.
00:59:19
Speaker
This is an updated drawing of him in the courthouse. normal Less bad. but They were harsh on him. They did him dirty. He had it coming. He had it coming. Yeah, so that well yeah that's the story of the British on... What book was that that you got it from? Because Because I remember you but we both bought books. Yeah, I bought a couple. That was from The Murder Files from Scotland Yard and the Black Museum by R. Michael Gordon.
00:59:47
Speaker
ah Yeah. That was good. That's so interesting. And that started the newspapers printing the true crime stuff for England. He was the first man to have his face on a Scotland Yard wanted poster. And they did him dirty. just He looks like a rat. Yeah, damn. and like But again, that guy, this this one reporter in his thing said that receding chins were a sign of intelligence and evolution. Yeah.
01:00:14
Speaker
Did we see Scotland Yard? Yeah. In London? Did we take pictures of it? don't think so. Did we see it? I don't remember. We it from the Ferris wheel. Oh. We didn't go up to it, though. From the eye.
01:00:26
Speaker
From the eye. We didn't, yeah, we just didn't have time to do it. I like the guy that did the tour on the eye. He's good. Yeah, he was good. Okay. Okay. That's it. you know what we forgot to do? What did we forget to do? um You can find us on pretty much every platform. And it's all listed in the show notes. Yeah, in the show notes, click on the link tree. It'll take you. shares with your friends and family. Like us. Right now, right now while you're thinking about it, like us.
01:00:55
Speaker
Give us a review. Give us a review. star us. Reach out to us on Instagram or email. Tell us what you want to hear about. Are you walking your dog right now? Look down at your phone and rate us. Hello. Hello.
01:01:08
Speaker
All right. That's it. ah Nothing else? No. Here for a good time? Not a long time. Bye.